COMMUNAL RELATIONS IN ZMR/SMYRNA, 1826-1864:

AS SEEN THROUGH THE PRISM OF GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS

by



N. Feryal Tansu




A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
University of Toronto



Copyright by N. Feryal Tansu 2008
ii
ABSTRACT
COMMUNAL RELATIONS IN ZMR/SMYRNA, 1826-1864:
AS SEEN THROUGH THE PRISM OF GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS
by
Feryal Tansu
Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
University of Toronto
2008

This dissertation examines the level of social and cultural interaction between the Greek
and Turkish communities of zmir and the impact of the centralizing Ottoman reforms on the
society of zmir during the age of the Ottoman modernization. It focuses on the years between
1826 and 1864 that marked a turning point in the administrative history of the Ottoman Empire.
Analyzing this subject requires understanding the social-cultural and economic dynamics of
zmir that played a crucial role in the formation of the social fabric of the city. Ottoman-Turkish
archival material and to some extent Greek newspapers of the time are used as primary sources.
The sources discussed in this dissertation demonstrate that the central authority attempted to re-
integrate zmir into its administrative and political structure in accordance with the centralizing
or repressive Tanzimat reforms. However, Tanzimat reforms did not disturb the social cohesion
of zmir, which the city produced over the centuries with its local character and some peculiar
dynamics. The evidence also indicates that the Empire did not aim to mold social relations in
zmir, instead benefited from citys already existing social-cultural and economic situation,
which was well suited to its modernization program. This study attempts to write a social and
cultural history of zmir, by considering the ethno-religious policies of the Ottoman state in the

iii
given period and questioning Ottoman modernity through the prism of the Greek-Turkish
communal relations. Much of the conventional Turkish and Greek historiography of the post
WWI years has analyzed 19th century zmir's history in terms of two conflicting nations.
While Turkish historiography has focused on the ethnic homogeneity of Turks and its history,
modern Greek historiography has stressed the suppression of the Ottoman Greeks under the
Ottoman rule. Such approaches have engendered the commonly used categories of Greek versus
Turkish or Muslim versus non-Muslim. Approaching zmir as an organic whole, instead of
dividing the city according to ethno-religious criterion, this dissertation tries to uncover the
dynamics of coexistence and communal relations, which marked the life of the city for centuries,
but was brought to an abrupt end as a result of the modern nation state formations.



















iv


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It has been a privilege being a PhD student of my supervisor Virgina Aksan. She deeply
influenced my intellectual development, enlarged my vision and perception of Ottoman History
over the years. Her exceptional personality and scholarly skills turned the process of my PhD
into an enjoyable trip within history. I have benefited more than I ever thought from her wisdom
and her approach to history and constructive criticisms. Without her encouragement, dedicated
and wholehearted supervision I could not write this dissertation. Amir Hassanpour profoundly
influenced my approach on historical issues and enriched my theoretical knowledge. He has
always been very generous in making long discussions with me about complicated issues not
only in Ottoman History, but also in general western and wear and Middle Eastern history and
politics. His constructive suggestions and continuous support and advice made this dissertation
possible. Moreover, our long conversations while wandering around in the historical places and
narrow streets of zmir and stanbul will remain as unforgettable and wonderful memories for
me. zer Ergen was the first person to encourage and convince me to pursue my PhD abroad.
When we first met in Turkey neither of us knew that I would be his unofficial PhD student. It
was very kind and generous of him that he voluntarily supervised my dissertation out of Canada.
His deep scholarly skills and knowledge of Ottoman history directed me to correct sources in the
Ottoman Archives. He was very patient and generous with his time in reading and checking
Ottoman-Turkish documents with me. I conducted the analysis of the Ottoman Turkish
documents under his exclusive supervision and continuous support.
My intellectual development initially began with Elisabeth zdalga during my
undergraduate years in the sociology department in the Middle East Technical University. When
I decided to conduct PhD abroad she gave me ample encouragement. Studying closely with her
not only made me develop a special interest about social change in Turkey, but also to search for

v
the historical heritage of the country. I would like to thank Reat Kasaba who encouraged me to
work on the subject of zmir and guided me at the beginning of my research with his great
expertise in the region. James Reilly helped me understanding complex and overlapping relations
in Near and Middle Eastern societies. My adventure of learning Modern Greek Language began
with George Kirikopoulos in the University of Toronto. His teaching talent, continuous support
and encouragement gave me the courage to learn this language. Jens Hanssens comments on
overall thesis made me re-consider zmir in broader geographical location and think about
possibilities of a future comparative study.
My special thanks go to Angelos Dourlaris who was my Greek tutor in stanbul. I could
finish this dissertation on planned time because of his generous help and encouragement. It was a
misfortune that I had pneumonia when I went to Athens in order to complete my dissertation and
he devotedly scanned Greek Newspapers for me and patiently explained them to me. Moreover,
his special interest in the history of the Aegean region and zmir provided me with the
opportunity to had long and enjoyable conversations with him. He not only tolerated me with his
sense of humor in all my difficulties with the Greek sources, but also gave me endless support
during the writing process of this dissertation.
I would like to thank my department at the University of Toronto, the Department of
Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, for awarding me with a research travel grant to support
my research in stanbul. I would also like thank to the staff in the Prime Ministry Ottoman
Archives for their kind help.
Vasilis Yandas offered me great hospitality whenever I was in Athens, and turned my
downs into highs. It was reassuring to have his friendship during these stressful times. The
encouragement of my dear friend Sait zervarl provided me with very important support during
my research and writing process in stanbul and Athens. He generously helped me in finding
some urgently needed sources, and sent them from stanbul to Athens. His kind and quick help in

vi
the most hectic times in the last days before the submission to my committee will remain as a
very precious memory for me. clal Ergen from the very beginning to the end of my PhD, gave
me moral support and made me believe that it would finish on time. It was very kind of Stavros
Anestidis to provide me with the necessary sources in the library of the Center for Asia Minor
Studies. I would like to thank my dear friend Pnar Besen who edited this study with great care
and sincere interest, and communicated with me day and night about some details. efik
Pekseven is another dear friend of mine who very generously offered me help from stanbul
when I was desperately in need of some sources in Athens.
When I moved from Toronto to stanbul I made two life-long friendships; Blent
Erdoan and Ekrem zorbeyi became my dearest senior friends in stanbul. When I went to
stanbul from Athens with many complaints and tiredness during the writing process, they sent
me back to Athens with great encouragement to complete this study. Not only their affectionate
and sincere moral support, but also their wisdom of life and sense of humor gave me relief and
courage in the most difficult times. I am grateful to them to be there for me whenever I needed.
I have a great debt of gratitude to pay to my parents, Gnl and Tuncer Tansu, who
always unconditionally supported me not only during my PhD years but also in all my
educational journey. Their affectionate and endless support has been very uplifting in writing this
dissertation. I also would like to thank my father for his help and patience in reading and
discussing British consular reports with me. Providing unconditional support, my two best
friends in zmir, my grandmother, Suzan Kalakli, and cicianne, Muzaffer Ozgul, were always
there for me during my studies. I am also grateful to my brother Kaan Tansu who took care of
my parents in zmir when unexpected illnesses emerged in the family during my absence.
I am equally greateful to Osman Kken, who from the beginning to the end, closely
shared every stage of my PhD years with me. He provided continuous companionship during my
PhD courses and research. Sometimes he accompanied me in the libraries, sometimes he listened

vii
to my long discussions. As he promised at the beginning, Osman conducted all the technical
requirements of this dissertation, which was the most complicated part for me. His affectionate
and sincere interest sustained me throughout this study.






































viii


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ii
Acknowledgments iv
Table of Contents viii
List of Figures x
List of Appendices xi

Introduction 1
Stating the Problem: Why Study Communal Relations in zmir? 1
Sources 10
Conceptual and Terminological Issues 16
Literature Review 17
Chapter 1. zmir 1826-64 25
The General Image of zmir in the 1800s from the gaze of outsiders 27
The Early History of zmir & Emerging Center-Periphery Relationships 33
The Long Eighteenth Century and the Importance of zmir 40
Local Notables and the Question of Governance in zmir 42
The Socal Order Disrupted 1770-1820s 43
Mahmud II, the Greek Revolt and the Impact on zmir 48
Natural Disasters & their Impact on the Communites of zmir 53
Chapter 2. Socio-Economic Networks in Izmir in the 19
th
Century 57
The role of the Greek and Turkish communities in the economic activity of the city 65
Demographic structure in the 19
th
Century 74
Spatial organization of city 77
Social and Cultural Life in the 19
th
century 89
Printed Press 89

ix
Education 92
Social Clubs 100
Hospitals 102
Chapter 3. Ottoman Reforms & Izmir 103
Ottoman Modernization 103
Judicial Reforms 114
Administrative Reforms 115
Economic Reforms 119
Social Reforms 123
Chapter 4. The Greek Revolt and Change: The Impact On Urban Life 126
The impact of the Greek Revolt 126
The impact of the reforms on the Greek-Orthodox and Muslim-Turkish Communities 156
Chapter 5. Communal Relations, Post 1840s 181
Greek-Turkish Property Relations 182
Social interaction among common people 189
Tolerance and Ottoman attempts to stimulate political loyalty 194
The Perception of the local authorities 201
The Concerns for the urban development and social order of the city 206
Commercial Life 212
Breakdown of Order 217
Conclusion 220
Bibliography 229
Glossary of terms 251
Appendices 253




x

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure-1 British Trade in the zmir Port in 1835 59
Figure-2 Population of zmir in the 19
th
Century 75
Figure-3 Distribution of zmir Greeks Units According to Quarters and Districts 87




















xi

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix-1 Map of zmir and Surrounding Region 253
Appendix-2 Pictures 254
Appendix-3 Ottoman Archive Documents 259
















1
INTRODUCTION
Stating the Problem: Why Study Communal Relations In zmir?
The motivation behind this study originated from my concern about the conventional
Turkish and Greek historical studies of zmir in which Greeks and Turks are depicted as two
conflicting communities or nations. Using ethno-religious criteria has engendered the
commonly used categories of Greek versus Turkish populations, Muslims versus non-Muslims
and Levantine versus Ottoman Muslims or non-Muslims. I believe that writing the history of
cities according to ethnic and religious origins does not allow for a meaningful and complex
analysis of the multi ethno-religious Ottoman society. I was interested to know exactly when this
perception of conflicting Greco-Turkish communities first began to develop in the multi ethno-
religious society of zmir. I wondered whether it was a result of the oppressive policies of
Mahmud II during the Greek revolt in the 1820s or of the Tanzimat, which caused unrest among
both the Muslim and non-Muslim population in some other regions of the Empire. Challenging
conventional approaches, I wanted to examine the society of zmir, especially from the point of
view of Greek-Turkish relations, by approaching the city as an organic whole without dividing it
according to ethno-religious criteria during the period of Ottoman modernization.
Although I was aware of the identity problems in multi-cultural Ottoman cities, during
my research in this study I once more realized how the people of zmir interconnected and how it
is misleading to look at the zmir society as a society composed of clear cut layers of ethnicities,
such as Turks, Levantines, Greeks, Jews, and Armenians. A wonderful surprise towards the end
of this study also made me experience this fact: I read about a certain Baltazzi (Baltac) family
from zmir which was one of the leading and much loved Ottoman Greek families in zmir
according to Greek newspapers of the period and some secondary sources. I learned from a much
2

senior friend of mine
1
while we were chatting in Samos that a member of the Baltazzi family,
Alex Baltazzi,
2
lives in zmir and owns one of the biggest travel agencies in Turkey. I was very
surprised of course, because they ought to have left zmir in accordance with the 1922 forced
Greek and Turkish population exchange agreement of the Lausanne Treaty in 1922. I found his
address. I asked for an appointment through e-mail, briefly explaining my interest in his family.
But, in my e-mail I called his family a "Greek family" as my sources mentioned. In his brief
reply he told me that I am very interested in your study, and I definitely want to meet and talk
with you because I am against classifying the Baltazzi family in any religious or communal
category. I met with him in his office and we had a long conversation. He is 70 years old, a very
nice and respectable gentleman. He speaks five languages, English, French, Greek, Italian and
Turkish. He is very interested in history; he reads history books and historical journals. He told
me that his family was a Levantine family, not a Greek one. They are the progeny of a mixture of
Venetian and Chiot ancestors. He is Catholic from his mother's side so they were able to stay in
zmir in 1922 by receiving Austrian citizenship. His father was a Greek, an Orthodox Christian,
but his mother was a religious Catholic and wanted her son to be brought up a Catholic. His
father accepted this so Mr.Alex Baltazzi and his family are Catholic. I feel very lucky to have
had the chance to meet with a grandson of one of the Baltazzis in zmir. Talking to him made me
realise how a superficial categorization of ethnic communities in the city makes it difficult to get
a sense of the multiculturality of zmir.
This study examines the level of social and cultural interaction between the Greek and
Turkish communities of zmir and the relations of the communities with the state during the age
of Ottoman modernization, specifically between 1826 and 1864. We don't know much about
economic and social interactions between the Greek and Turkish communities of zmir in the

1
At this point I would like to thank my dear friend Captain Adnan enol for letting me know that Alex Baltazzi
lives in zmir.
2
I would like to thank to Mr. Alex Baltazzi for the long conservation we had and for sharing his knowledge with
me.
3

period between the years 1826 and 1864. How did a growing market economy and the tension in
society caused by the Greek revolt of 1821 affect social relations between the two communities?
How were communal relations between the Greek and Turkish communities of zmir affected by
circumstances of economic development and social unrest in the Tanzimat Period? To what
extent were the Tanzimat principles of equality across sectarian frontiers applied in zmir? These
were the questions I asked at the beginning of my research in this study. Answering such
questions was not possible through considering zmir only within the port city category in the
eastern Mediterranean. I abandoned using port city category and its framework alone to study
urban social history of zmir between 1826 and 1864. Instead, I tried to examine various types of
relations considering significant historical events.
3
Studying zmir within the category of the
port city would lead to basically focusing on economic relations in the city. Examining a city
giving priority to its port city characteristic requires consideration of the economic logic, which
was the primary factor for the existence of the port cities. The modernization paradigm ignored
this point and focused on values, norms and culture and consumption patterns in analyzing the
diffusion process in the urban development of the port cities.
4
Such an approach basically
focuses on the elements of the incorporation process of the Ottoman Empire into the capitalist
expansion of the 19
th
century. Therefore it viewed port cities as the clearest manifestations of the
incorporation into the capitalist world economy.
5
Although focusing on the transformations that
this incorporation process led to reveal important economic relations, this approach curtailed
other social, cultural and political dynamics of the multi-ethno-religious Ottoman port cities.
That is to say, using port city framework alone would not cover other dynamics of urban social

3
I agree with the critique of Edhem Eldem for the analysis of stanbul only within the framework of port city, and
his suggestion of considering various kinds of other relations under the concept of contact in its broader sense.
Edhem Eldem, stanbul: from imperial to peripheralized capital, in The Ottoman City between East and West,
Aleppo, zmir, and stanbul, eds. Edhem Eldem, Daniel Goffman, & Bruce Masters, (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1
st
ed. 1999, 2
nd
ed., 2000) 137-138. We can relatively apply what Edhem Eldem suggested for the
study of 18
th
and 19
th
century of stanbul, to the case of zmir.
4
alar Keyder, Eyp zveren, Donald Quataert, Port-Cities in the Ottoman Empire, Some Theoretical and
Historical Perspectives, Review, XVI, 4, Fall 1993, pp. 520-522.
5
Ibid., pp. 519-558.
4

relations. Edhem Eldem suggested the concept of contact in its broader sense in order to
analyze overlapping and intricate economic, political and social relations and imperial features of
stanbul: contact of different cultures and ethno-religious groups, conflict between political aims
and economic self-interests, and between beliefs and mentalities, and balance among the
contradictory tendencies, and more importantly a period of mediation between East and West,
center and periphery, Islam and Christianity, state and society, modernization and tradition, elite
and masses, and empire and republic.
6
Similarly, in aprroaching the urban social history of zmir
I have tried to explore various types of relations: firstly, the impact of the Greek revolt on the
Greek-Turkish communal relations in zmir; secondly, the relation between the Ottoman state
and the Greek community of zmir during the Tanzimat period; thirdly, the relationship between
the Greek state and the Greek community of zmir; fourthly, the impact of the centralizing
reforms on the Greek community of zmir, and finally, the impact of the modernizing state
regulations on communal life in zmir, especially, on relations between the Greeks and Turks in
the city. In examining these relations, the picture I drew from my primary sources also directed
me to think about the nature of the social fabric of the city, which affected communal relations in
the period of Ottoman modernization. Moreover, I also realized that I needed to think about the
question of center-periphery politics and the internal socio-cultural dynamics of the city in order
to understand zmir society in its urban transformation during the centralizing Ottoman reforms.
The period of this study was chosen as the years 1826 to 1864, since they marked a
turning point in the administrative history of the Ottoman Empire. 1826 was the year in which
the Janissaries were destroyed, and during which the Greek revolt was in full swing.
7
The New

6
Eldem, 2000, 138. I did not intend to use the same categories for analyzing Ottoman capital for studying the urban
history of zmir. However, similar to Eldems approach, I preferred to analyze various kinds of relations in studying
zmir in the years 1826 to 1864.
7
The abolition of the Janissaries not only led to military changes, but also significant administrative changes in the
Empire. When the Janissary corps was abolished, the kad lost his means (kolluk kuvvetleri) to carry out his duty of
ensuring public order and fulfilling municipal responsibilities. Therefore, the office of kad deteriorated, becoming
responsible only for judiciary matters. Accordingly, the ministry of ihtisab [(ihtisab nazrl), ihtisab: Office of the
5

Provincial Organization (Vilayet Nizamnamesi) was issued in 1864, after which the
administrative organization of the Empire and specifically of the cities radically changed.
8

Within the given period of this study (1826-1864) zmir was neither a province (it became
province in 1866) nor had a municipality (it was founded in 1868). One of the points that I
wanted to underline in my dissertation was that the urban modernization and transformation of
zmir began through its economic, administrative and social-cultural dynamics while the city
even was not yet a province itself and did not benefit from the Provincial Organizations of 1864
and 1871.
9
There are a number of significant historical moments in the history of zmir just
before and and in the middle of the 19th century that affected the nature of relations among the
communities and their relations with the Ottoman state: The instigation of urban riot by the
Janissaries in 1797 (when great Greek causalities occurred), the oppressive policies of the state
during the initial years of the Greek revolt along the Aegean coastline and islands, the
declaration of the Tanzimat (1839 and 1856 imperial edicts) and the continuing fires and

superintendent of guilds and markets] was founded in the capital, and ihtisab directorates (ihtisab mdrlkleri)
were founded in the provinces in 1826. The ihtisab nazr replaced the kad's municipal duties regarding social order
and the collection of taxes, and the organization of urban life. However, in the following years police organization
was founded in 1845, and the office of public security (Zabtiye Mirlii), was founded in 1846 to carry out these
duties of the ihtisab nazrl so that ihtisab mdr became only responsible for controlling narh and esnaf. lber
Ortayl, Trkiye dari Tarihi, (Ankara: Trkiye ve Ortadou Amme daresi Enstits, 1971) 203-204. However, the
basic reason for the foundation of the ihtisab nizamnamesi in 1826 was to meet the expenses of the Asakir-i
Mansure-i Muhammediye, which was established after the abolishment of the Janissaries. The names of the tax that
was collected according to the ihtisab nizamnamesi were of the likes of rusm- cihadiyye. Mbahat Ktkolu,
1826 Dzenlenmesinden Sonra zmir htisab Nezareti, [Ministry of htisab of zmir] in zmir Tarihinden Kesitler,
[Pieces from History of zmir] ed. Mbahat Ktkolu, (zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent
Kitapl Dizisi, 2000, from now on 2000b) 62.
8
According to the Provincial Reform Law of 1864 new provincial units, vilayets, replaced the traditional eyalet
system. Each vilayet was divided into livas (sancaks), each sancak was composed of kazas, and a kaza was made up
of nahiyes, which were divided into villages, karyes. This system aimed at increasing the authority of local
governors, in contrast with the attempt of the Tanzimat to strengthen centralized power. Stanford J Shaw and Ezel
Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, 1808-1975, (Cambridge, New York: Cambridge
Univ. Press, 1977) 88-89; lber Ortayl, Tanzimat'tan Cumhuriyet'e Yerel Ynetim Gelenei [The Tradition of the
Local Administration from the Tanzimat to the Republic], (stanbul: Hil, 1985) 61. However, the structure of the
1864 Provincial Law preserved the centralized administration, and led to an effective administration of the provinces
by the center. lber Ortayl, Tanzimat Devri'nde Osmanl Mahalli dareleri, (1840-1880), (Ankara: TTK, 2000) 54;
Ortayl, 1979, p. 290.
9
In 1870s, another history started in zmir when the Public Debt Administration became effective and led to
isolation of the local bourgeoisie class in western Anatolia, and the change in the zmir society continued with the
Young Turk policies in 1910s).
6

epidemics in the middle of the 19th century might be keyholes
10
through which to understand
the communal relations in the multi ethno-religious zmir society in its urban transformation.
There is a vast literature about the urban socio-cultural histories of the Middle Eastern
and Balkan cities and general social-cultural
11
and economic histories of zmir.
12
The recent
Middle Eastern
13
and Balkan urban hisotires
14
and urban histories of zmir
15
explore social
relations and communal interactions within the context of Ottoman modernity, and transcend the

10
The term is used by Virginia Aksan in her Theoretical Ottomans., It will be published in History and Theory.
She used the terminology in Tim Brook Time and Global History, a research paper presented to a multiyear
project at McMasterUniversity, Globalization and Autonomy.
http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~global/ga/globalizationautonomy.htm
11
Raif Nezih, zmir'in Tarihi [History of zmir ], 1927; Adnan Bilget, Son Yzylda zmir ehri, (zmir, n.p., 1949);
Hakk Gltekin, zmir Tarihi [History of z mir ],( zmir: n.p., 1952); Tuncer Baykara, zmir ehri Tarihi [History
of City of zmir ], (zmir: Ege niversitesi Matbaas, 1974); Necmi lker, 17. ve 18. Yzyllarda zmir ehri Tarihi
[The Historyof zmir in the 17th and 18
th
centuries] (zmir: Akademi Kitabevi, 1994); nar Atay, Tarih inde
zmir, [zmir in History], (zmir: n.p.,1978); Rauf Beyru, zmir ehri zerine Bir nceleme [An Analysis on the City
of zmir], (Ankara: ODT, 1969), 18. ve 19.Yzyllarda zmir [zmir in the 18
th
and 19
th
Centuries], (zmir: Teksir,
1973), 19.Yzylda zmir'de Yaam [Life in the 19
th
Century zmir], stanbul, 2000]; Nedim Atilla, zmir Posta
Tarihi, (1841-2001) [Postal History of zmir, 1841-2001), ( zmir: zmir Byk ehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar,
Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2001).
12
Daniel Goffman, zmir and Levantine World, 1550-1650, (Seattle, 1990); zmir from Village to Colonial Port
City, in The Ottoman City between East and West, Aleppo, zmir, and stanbul, eds. Edhem Eldem, Daniel
Goffman, & Bruce Masters, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1
st
ed. 1999, 2
nd
ed., 2000); Reat Kasaba,
The Ottoman Empire and The World Economy, The Nineteenth Century, (New York: State University of New York,
1988), Was There a Compradore Bourgeoisie in Mid-Nineteenth Century Western Anatolia?, Review, XL, 2,
Spring, 1988, pp. 215-228, zmir, Review, XVI, 4, Fall, 1993; Elena Frangakis-Syrett, The Commerce of Smyrna
in the Eighteenth Century, 1700-1820, (Athens: Centre for Asia Minor Studies, 1992).
13
Jens Hanssen, Fin de Siecle Beirut: The Making of an Ottoman Capital, (Oxfors: Oxford University Press, 2005);
Nora Lafi, Municipalits Mditerranennes : les rformes urbaines Ottomanes au miroir d'une histoire compare,
(Berlin: K. Schwarz, 2005), Une ville du Maghreb entre ancien rgime et rformes ottomanes : gense des
institutions municipales Tripoli de Barbarie, 1795-1911, (Paris: L'Harmattan; Tunis: IRMC. Institut de recherche
sur le Maghreb contemporain, 2002; Bruce Masters, Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World: The Roots of
Sectarianism, (Cambridge, UK., New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001; Ussama Makdisi, The Culture of
Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Ninteenth Century Ottoman Lebanon, (Berkeley, California:
University of California Press, 2000); Beshara Doumani, Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal
Nablus 1700-1900, (Berkeley : University of California Press, 1995); Leila Tarazi Fawaz, An Occasion of war: civil
conflict in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860, (London, New York: I.B. Tauris, 1994, Merchants and Migrants in
Nineteenth Century Beirut, (Cambridge: Harward University Press, 1983); Moshe Maoz, Ottoman Reform in Syria
and Palestine, 1840-1861: the impact of the Tanzimat on politics and society, (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1975).
14
Mark Mazower, Salonica, City of Ghosts, Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430-1950, (London, New York, Toronto
and Sydney: Harper Perennial, 2
nd
ed., 2005, 1
st
ed. Harper Collins Publishers, 2004); Blent zdemir, Ottoman
Reforms and Social Life: Reflectons from Salonica, 1830-1850, (stanbul: The Isis Press, 2003); Meropi
Anastassadou, Salonique 1830-1912, (Leiden: Brill, 1997); Nikolai Todorov, The Balkan City, 1400-1900, (London:
University of Washington Press, 1983).
15
Sibel Zandi Sayek, Public space and urban citizens: Ottoman zmir in the remaking, 18401890, unpublished
PhD. Dissertation, (University of California, Berkeley, 2001); Marie Carmen Smyrnelis, Une socit hors de soi:
Identits et relations socials a Smyrne aux XVIIIe et XIXe sicles, unpublished PhD. Dissertation, (Paris: Ecole des
Hautes en sciences Sociales, 2000); Oliver J.Schmitt, Levantiner, Lebenswelten und Identitaten einer
etnokonfessinollen Gruppe im osmanischen Reich in langen 19. Jahrhundert [Levantines: Life Worlds and
Identities of an Ethno-Denominatinal Group in the Ottoman Empire during the Long 19th Century]
(Sdosteuropaische Arbeiten 122, Mnchen: r. Oldenbourg, 2005).
7

borders of local histories. The urban social histories of the multi-ethno-religious Middle Eastern
cities are generally analyzed through considering two pivotal historical events in the region: the
rule of Mehmed Ali Paa between 1830 and 1840 and ethno-religious tension leading to sectarian
violence under the intense European intervention from the years 1840s to 1860s.
16
As far as the
histories of Balkan cities is considered, renouncing conventional ethnic or national awakening
or resistance paradigms,
17
new urban Balkan histories have presented different approaches to
analyzing urban histories. Rural uprisings, the foundation of the independent Greek state and the
autonomous rule of Serbia were the crucial historical events that shaped the urban transformation
of the Balkan cities. Administrative and social structures and relations in the Arab lands and

16
Ussama Makdisi approached sectarian conflict as an expression of Ottoman modernity that composed of conflict
and contact between European colonialism, Ottoman Tanzimat policies or Ottoman imperialism. He mentioned
the year 1841, when the first major violent events occurred, as the rise of the sectarianism and 1861 as the official
end of it with the decleration of Rglement Organique. Ussama Makdisi, The Culture of Sectarianism: Community,
History, and Violence in Ninteenth Century Ottoman Lebanon, (Berkeley, California: University of California Press,
2000). While Makdisi mainly focused on the power struggle amont the Druze and Maroniate Elites and the origis of
sectarian violence, Farah Caesar more dealt with the diplomatic relations and international implications and role of
the British and French in the Ottoman Lebanan. Farah Caesar, The Politics of Interventionism in Ottoman Lebanon,
1831-1861, (London: New York: I.B. Tauris, 2000. Engin Akarl in his The Long Peace, Mutasarrafiyya Period,
also dealt with the origins, revisions of the events and the developments in the following period in the Mount
Lebanon. Engin Deniz Akarl, The Long Peace: Ottoman Lebanon, 1861-1920, (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1993). Leila Fawaz in her An Occasion of War: Civil Conflict in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860, also
focused on the origins of the sectarian violence in Mount Lebanon and Damascus mentioning the foreign impact,
avoided from analyzing the issue only within the content of Muslim versus Christian conflict and Christian versus
Druzes. She also touched upon the issues of importance of negotiation among the communities and mutual
colloboration of the elites, as sometimes happened during the aggressive events. According to her, the weak
Ottoman central authority, influential traditional and local powers together with the changing economic conditions
in the region led to a gap that was filled by sectarian networks. Leila Tarazi Fawaz, An Occasion of war: Civil
Conflict in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860, (London, New York: I.B. Tauris, 1994. Among the studies on the
Middle Eastern cities of the Ottoman Empire, the works of Jens Hanssen and Beshara Doumai provided a revisionist
approach in dealing with the period of increased European penetration and centralizing Ottoman reforms. Hanssen
mainly focusing on the Hamidian period of 1876-1908, analyzed the urban dynamics and its relations with various
other factors, like foreign intervention, centralizing Ottoman policies and role of local notables and merchants, in
Beirut. In his analysis of Ottoman Arab provinces from 1870s to 1908, what he called the era of provincial
capitals, (p. 75), he stressed the dialectic relationship between center and periphery and simultaneity of the growing
centralization and local character of the city. Hanssen, 2005. Doumanis work, which covered two centuries of
Ottoman Palestine (1700-1900), revealed the urban and rural dynamics of the region during the centralizing
Ottoman reforms and growing European influence. His work demonsrated that before Ottoman reforms of the
Tanzimat and Hamidian period, the urban and rural transformation of Jabal Nablus already started through
commodization of the land, integration of urban area with rural regions and monetization of rural economy.
Doumani, 1995.
17
Pachalis Kitromilides, Imagined Communities and the Origins of the National Question in the Balkans, in
Enlightenment, Nationalism, Orthodoxy, Studies in Culture and political thought of south-eastern Europe, Great
Britain: Variorum, 1994) 149-192; N. Pantazopoulos, Community Laws and Customs of Western Macedonia under
Ottoman Rule, Balkan Studies, v.2, n.3 1961-1962, pp. 1-22; Stephen Xydis, Medieval Origins of Modern Greek
Nationalism, Balkan Studies, n. 9, 1968, pp. 1-20; Konstandinos Vakalopoulos, Modern History of Macedonia,
1830-1912, (Thessaloniki, n.a, 1988).
8

Balkans were quite different from zmir and in general western Anatolia, which did not
experience even something similar to such civil violence as in the Arab lands and Balkans in the
middle of the 19
th
century. zmir experienced a smiliar ethnic violence between 1919 and 1923 in
the age of nationalisms. The ethnic violence between 1840s and 1860s and overlapping and
complex relations of civil war in the Arab cities made a big difference to the direction of the
Arab cities. Similarly, ethno-religious clash among the Orthodox Christian communities and
their conflict with the Ottoman state in the second half of the 19
th
century affected political,
economic and social developments of the Balkan cities, not just then, but later as well. That is to
say, there were no such rigid historical events in the social and cultural history of zmir and
western Anatolia until 1908, which deeply affected the social-cultural and political developments
of the future, as were in the Arab lands of the Empire and the Balkans in the given period of this
study (1826-1864) even until the 1908 Young Turk rule. The social-cultural history of zmir did
not attract the attention of scholars for a long time. zmir, the commercial center in the Eastern
Meditarrenean and port city of Western Anatolia, which had maintained its ethnic diversity for
centuries, experienced an upheaval in its ethnic composition beginning in the 1910s. By the
middle of the 1920s it was transformed into an ethnically homogeneous Turkish city. The
process of demographic change, not unique to the city, was shaped by a number of factors,
including the incorporation of the region into the world capitalist economy, the modernization of
the Ottoman state (Tanzimat reforms 1839-1876) and the birth of nationalist politics in 1910s; in
a word, the onset of modernization. Some young scholars recently showed interest in the period
of ethnic conflict in zmir and Western Anatolia between 1908 and 1922 and wrote PhD
dissertations on the subject,
18
and also Reat Kasaba, as an expert on the region questioned the

18
Vangelis Kechriotis The Greeks at the End of the Empire, A non-Muslim Ottoman community between Autonomy
and Patriotism, (University of Leiden, 2005); Biray Krl, From the Ottoman Empire to Turkish Nation-State:
Reconfiguring Spaces and Geo-Bodies, unpublished PhD Dissertation, (New York: University of New York at
Binghamton, 2002).
9

period of ethnic violence and examined its background.
19
Very little of the works on the social-
cultural history of zmir deals with the social relations and communal interaction within the
period this study covers.
20
The urban social histories of zmir that cover the period of this
dissertation deal with communal relations from different angles. One such historical-
architectural study examines how the relationship between the people of zmir cut across ethno-
religious lines by studying the physical organization of the city based mostly on French
newspapers of the period and to some extent the Ottoman archival material.
21
Another study
concentrates on the communal relations among the European and other ethno-religious
communities of the city in the late 18
th
and early 19
th
centuries using largely Ottoman
historiography in French.
22
Lastly, another focuses on the Levantine identity and life in the
Ottoman Empire with examples of the zmir, Pera and Galata districts of Istanbul.
23
While this
study renounces Eurocentric approaches like of the decline thesis and modernization or
westernization, it makes a contribution to the recently written Ottoman urban social histories.
What differentiates this study from the others is that it concentrates specifically on the Greek-
Turkish communal relations (1826-1864).
24
These are usually examined as two conflicting
nations by much of the conventional Turkish and Greek historiography of the post-WWI years.

19
Reat Kasaba, zmir 1922: A Port City Unravels, in Culture and Modernity from Meditarrenean and to Indian
Ocean, eds. Leila Tarazi Fawaz, Christopher Alan Bayly, (New York: Colombia University Press, 2002, pp. 204-
229.
20
Sibel Zandi Sayek, Public space and urban citizens: Ottoman zmir in the remaking, 18401890, unpublished
PhD. Dissertation, (University of California, Berkeley, 2001); Marie Carmen Smyrnelis, Une socit hors de soi:
Identits et relations socials a Smyrne aux XVIIIe et XIXe sicles, unpublished PhD. Dissertation, (Paris: Ecole des
Hautes en sciences Sociales, 2000); Oliver J. Schmitt, Levantiner, Lebenswelten und Identitaten einer
etnokonfessinollen Gruppe im osmanischen Reich in langen 19. Jahrhundert [Levantines: Life Worlds and
Identities of an Ethno-Denominatinal Group in the Ottoman Empire during the Long 19th Century]
(Sdosteuropaische Arbeiten 122, Mnchen: r. Oldenbourg, 2005).
21
Zandi Sayek, 2001, Orchestrating Difference, Performing Identity: Urban Space and Public Rituals in Nineteenth
Century zmir, in Hybrid Urbanism: On the identity discourse and the built environment, ed. Nezar Al Sayyad,
(Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2001).
22
Smyrnelis, 2000.
23
Schmitt, Levantiner, 2005.
24
The Greek community of zmir, and to some extent the change in Greco-Turkish relations in the 19
th
century
zmir, have been subject to investigation in the first quarter of the 20
th
century at the end of the Empire in the PhD.
Dissertation of Vangelis Kechriotis The Greeks at the End of the Empire, A non-Muslim Ottoman community
between Autonomy and Patriotism, (University of Leiden, 2005).
10

What this study also does to delve deep into Ottoman-Turkish material. In this respect, the aim of
this study is to contribute to the urban social history as it is currently being written all over the
Empire.
Sources
In order to address communal relations in zmir, I consulted archival material in the
Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives in Istanbul and the Ottoman court registers of zmir, some
Greek newspapers of the period, British Consular reports and the observations of many travelers
of the period.


I. eriyye Sicilleri (Court Registers):
One of the main archival sources of my dissertation is evidence from the "court registers"
(er'iyye sicilleri) of zmir, which provide a better insight into debates on the use of urban space
and intercommunal interaction between the Greek and Turkish communities of the city. The type
of information contained in the court registers tells us more than other official documents do. In
these registers, the judicial case is described according to testimony of the parties concerned. The
records do not include any interpretations of the law or actual decisions made. Rather, the
parties came to court and testified as to the conflict between them. The reason they came to court
was to record the decision and their agreement with it, whether it was the selling-buying of
property or goods or or inheritance. The purpose was to have a state document that would be
recognized officially in case of need. In using court registers, I did not deal with the event itself
or analyze the result of the cases in terms of jurisprudence. In studying these registers, I
translated the data into historical information, which is possible by comprehending the
terminology of these registers. Therefore, I based my analysis on sicil terminology. In the light of
some basic concepts of Islamic law, I tried to analyze Greek and Turkish relations in zmir in the
11

given period. care-yi tavile (a long term rental), gedik (the right to run a place without
possessing its land and the right of practicing handicraft or making trade), zilyet (the right of
possession of the land because of long term use of it) are some examples of such concepts.

II. Ayniyat Defterleri, Meclis-i Vala'dan:
Ayniyat notebooks are the genuine registers of "orders" (buyruldu), and correspondence of the
"office of the grand vizier" (sadaret). The Meclis-i Vala registers of the Ayniyat notebooks
constitute the most important firsthand source material for my study because they reflect the
implementation of the Tanzimat reforms. The minutes of the meetings (meclis zabtlar) of the
Meclis-i Vala written by the katips are absent in the archives. Until today no researcher has
found any of the minutes. However, the decisions and memos of the Meclis-i Vala are available in
these Ayniyat Notebooks. Moreover, the decisions of the Meclis-i Vala were published in the
official newspaper of the empire, Takvim-i Vekayi, in order to serve as a warning to others.
25
They
are addressed to zmir's collector of funds (muhassl)
26
, the district-chief (kaymakam), the
provincial council (meclis), and the governor of zmir (vali), when it becomes a province in
1864), or city magistrate (kad).





25
Musa adrc, Tanzimat Dnemi'nde Anadolu Kentlerinin Sosyal ve Ekonomik Yaplar. (Ankara: TTK Yaynlar,
1991) 190. After fifteen years of an overwhelming workload of issuing laws, the Supreme Council lost its
functional effectiveness. In addition, the new leaders of the Tanzimat executives Ali and Fuat Pashas aimed to
achieve rapid progress through efficient institutions. In 1854, because of political and administrative reasons the
Supreme Council was left only with its judicial duties. A new legislative body was formed under the title High
Council of Tanzimat, Meclis-i Ali-yi Tanzimat. The duties of the Meclis-i Vala were transferred to this new body,
now responsible for completing and extending the Tanzimat reforms. Ibid., p. 189; Shaw & Kural Shaw, 1977, p. 78
Roderic Davison, Reform in the Ottoman Empire, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963) 52-53. After the
formation of the Meclis-i Ali-yi Tanzimat, the Meclis-i Vala also continued to work along with it. Meclis-i Ali-yi
Tanzimat continued to work until 1861, and then united with the Meclis-i Vala. adrc, 1991, p. 189.

12

III. Bab- Ali Evrak Odas, Sadaret Evrak Mektubi Kalemi (A.MKT):
The Mektubi Kalemi was responsible for conducting all the correspondence for the
"office of the grand vizier" (sadaret) with all the ministries, kaymakam, muhassl, meclis, and
kad of the provinces and towns including making summaries of the petitions and presenting
them to the office of the grand vizier.
This classification includes the documents during and after the Tanzimat period, between
the years 1840-1935. The quality of the documents in this classification is important in that it
shows the running of the new institutions of the Tanzimat, to what extent the Tanzimat principles
were applied in the provinces and districts, and furthermore what were the sources of conflict
among the people and how they were solved by local authorities. Therefore, this classification is
one of the best among the ones that served the purpose of this dissertation.


IV. Bab- Ali Evrak Odas, Sadaret Evrak (A.DVN):
The content of the documents in this classification is very similar to those in the A.MKT
collection. Therefore, the A.DVN classification, too, is very beneficial in understanding the
nature of conflict between and within the Muslim and Greek communities of zmir and the
attitude of the local officials in solving these disputes.
In both A.DVN and A.MKT registers, we see the petitions (arzuhal) of the Ottoman
subjects to the office of the grand vizier and the replies to them as kaime (the order which is
written on a long paper), buyruldu (order or decree), berat (deed grant) or informing letters
to the muhassl, kaymakam, kad or provincial council. In examining these registers, one of my
aims was to find examples of meclis mazbatalar, the records of zmir's large representative
13

provincial council.
27
These meclis mazbatalar constitute a very good source for social history,
since the provincial council had the authority to make decisions concerning the daily disputes
among the people. These disputes are described in detail in the meclis mazbatalar.


V-VI. Cevdet Adliye (1711-1876) and Cevdet Zaptiye (1603-1882) classifications:
The content of the documents in these two sections are almost the same. In the Cevdet
Adliye classification, we mostly find the adjudication implementations (yarg uygulamalar) of
the Meclis-i Vala. The documents used in this section are about the regulations of the Tanzimat
in zmir. There are plenty of documents in this section about all towns and cities in Western
Anatolian coastline, even for the years that exceed the period of this study.

VII. Zabtiye Nezareti Evrak (1849-1909)
No record of gendarmerie minutes, in which the officials describes the disputes between
the parties in detail, was available for zmir in this section. It would be such a good source to
look at causes of dispute among ordinary people in daily life more closely. The only ones found
were a few registers of the minutes taken in Ayvalk and Istanbul. Moreover, before the
foundation of the office of public security (Zaptiye Mirlii) in 1846 and the Gendarme
Ministry (Zaptiye Nezareti) in 1879
28
there was the avubalk, chief of sergeants of
gendarmerie which carried out the functions of Zaptiye before 1846, which concerns this study.
Unfortunately, no avubalk registers are available either in the archives. If these documents

27
The large representative provincial council (byk meclis), and the small provincial council (kk meclis)
were founded in 1840. The Byk Meclis worked until 1868, when ura-y Devlet was formed. It served as a court in
order to implement Tanzimat regulations and conduct the regulations of the 1840 penal code with the authority of
making decisions except for the crimes of murder, theft and intentional harm. The Meclis had to refer the cases of
these crimes to Meclis-i Vala. Ekrem Bura Ekinci, Osmanl Mahkemeleri, Tanzimat ve Sonras [Ottoman Courts,
Tanzimat and After], (Istanbul: Ar, 2004) 130.
28
The office organization was founded in 1845, and the office of public security (Zabtiye Mirlii), was founded in
1846 to carry out former duties of the kad. Its name was changed to Zaptiye Nezareti "gendarmerie ministry" in
1879. Babakanlk Osmanl Arivi Rehberi [The Guide of Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieves], (Istanbul, 2000) 249.
14

were found and made available for research, it would be a very beneficial source for social
historians.

VIII. Temettat Defterleri
The Temetat Notebooks are the registers of the "income tax" (temettuat vergisi), taken
from merchants and tradesmen during the Tanzimat. These notebooks constitute one of the most
important sources for the study of the economic history of the Ottoman Empire during the reform
age. Although some Turkish historians have underlined the importance of temettat notebooks for
the economic histories of the Ottoman cities, they are not used very effectively by the scholars.
29

There are thirteen temett notebooks available for zmir. Nine of them belonged to the French (66
pages), Greek (linoz)
30
(70 pages), Danish (16 pages), Russian (44 pages), Tuscan (32 pages),
Sardinia (8 pages), Ana Polnan (16 pages), Genoese (24 pages), Flanders 6 pages) communities
of zmir and the rest four notebooks belong to some small Muslim neighbourhoods of the city.




29
Mbahat Ktkolu, Osmanl Siyasal ve Kltrel Tarihi Kaynaklarndan Temett Defterleri,[Temett
Notebooks from one of the Sources of the Ottoman Political and Cultural History], Belleten, v. 225, n. 59, 1995, p.
395-418, zmir Temett Saymlar ve Yabanc Tebaa, zmir Tarihinden Kestiler, (zmir: zmir Byk Belediyesi
Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2000) 36-59; Demir, smet, Temett Defterlerinin nemi ve Hazrlan
Sebepleri, Yeni Trkiye Dergisi Osmanl zel Says, n. I-XII, 1999, pp. 315-326.; Tevfik Gran, Ondokuzuncu
Yzyl Temettat Tahrirleri, in Osmanl Devleti'nde Bilgi ve Istatistik [Data and Statistics in the Ottoman Empire],
eds. evket Pamuk ve Halil nalck, (Ankara: T.C. Babakanlk Devlet Istatistik Enstits, 2000) pp. 73-94; Said
ztrk, Trkiyede Temettat almalar, in Trkiye Aratrmalar Literatr Dergisi, Trk ktisat Tarihi, v. 2,
n.3, 2003; Huricihan slamolu, Temettat Registers as a System of Classification of the Ottoman Modern State,
Workshop on Land Records in the 19th Century Middle East, 1-3 March 1996, Cambridge, Mass., Conference
organized by Center for Middle East Studies at Harvard University; Musa adrc used temett notenooks in his
study of the Anatolian cities. Musa adrc, Tanzimat Dneminde Anadolu Kentleri'nin Sosyal ve Ekonomik Yaplar
[The Social and Economic Structure of Anatolian Cities during the Tanzimat Period], (Ankara: TTK, 1991);
Abdllatif ener partly dealt with the Temett notebooks in his book Tanzimat Dneminde Osmanl Vergi Sisemi,
[The Tax System in the Tanzimat Period], (stanbul: aret Yaynlar, 1990).
30
The name of the temett notebook for Greek community of zmir titled as linoz Cematainin Emlak ve Gelir
Defteridir. The term linoz in Ottoman Turkish is a distorted form of the word Hellen. Vizantinos Skarlatos,
[Dictionary of Greek Language], v.I, (Athens, 1975) 408; Dimitrakos Dimitrios
[Mega dictionary of Greek Languae], v.3 (Athens, 1950) 2445.

15

IX. British Consular Reports
I also used a limited number of British Consular Reports in the Public Record Office in
British National Archives.


X. Greek Primary Sources:
The Greek newspapers published in zmir: Amaltheia () 1845-1868, Mnimosini
() 1835, Melisiyenis () 1845, Smyrni () 1871.


XI. Secondary Sources
The court registers and the above mentioned documents in the Prime Ministry Ottoman
Archives classifications helped me to examine center-periphery relations, the implementation of
the reforms of the first half of the nineteenth century, andthe social relations between the Greeks
and Muslims. However, they did not much serve my purpose of understanding the social and
cultural relations in daily life, the zmir Greeks perception of the nascent Greek state and the
modernizing Ottoman state. Some Greek newspapers of the period helped me in filling this gap
in my dissertation, but I still wanted to see the involvement of the Ottoman Turkish community
in the dynamic economic activity of the city and economic relations between the zmir Greeks
and Muslims. I believe that not understanding the position of the Muslims in the urban economic
life of the city leaves a gap in accounting for the factors that were decisive in shaping the socio-
cultural and economic dynamics in zmir that determined the nature of the communal relations.
Just determining who was Greek or Turk in the cosmopolitan population of zmir proved
problematic.

16

Conceptual and Terminological Issues
Throughout this study for the Orthodox Christian Greek Ottoman subjects in zmir the
term Ottoman Greeks or Greek subjects is used as equal to Turkish word Rum or Reaya.
For the Greek citizens in the Greek state the terms Greeks of the Greek state or Greeks of
Greece are used. However, to identify who was who in zmir is a difficult issue. To identify
non-Muslims Greeks, Armenians and Jews in zmir became a complicated subject after the
turn of the 19
th
century because of the flood of increasing number of people who were granted
protection by the foreign consulates (beratl merchants) in zmir and its surrounding regions
and the Ottoman Greeks change of their identities into Greek nationals. After the foundation of
the Greek state in 1831, the identification issue of the Greek Orthodox Christians even became
more complicated. It is known that the Greek consulate in zmir was very active in selling Greek
passports in 1860. To have a Greek passport was more advantageous for Orthodox Christians
since it was easily exchanged for its Russian equivalents.
31
Therefore, Orthodox Christians,
Armenians, and sometimes Jews, are seen in the first place as Greek, British, Russian, or French
protected subjects or nationals. However, it is easy to differentiate who was who in the Ottoman-
Turkish documents because for the protected non-Muslims and Europeans the terms like beratl
(berat holder, patent holder), Avrupa taciri (European merchant), ngiltere Devletl
himayesinde bulunan (the one who is under the protection of the British State), and Rusya
devlet teb'asndan (The one who is a subject of the Russian State) and for the Ottoman subjects
devlet-i aliyye tebaasndan olan (the one who is a subject of the Ottoman State) are used. As
far as the Ottoman Greeks in zmir are concerned, change of their identity cards does not indicate
that they were not Ottoman Greeks who inhabited zmir for centuries. Moreover, I consider the
Greeks of Greece who migrated and settled in zmir as zmir Greeks. A group of merchants and
tradesmen of Greeks of Greece migrated to zmir and its surrounding region during the Tanzimat

31
Kasaba, 1888a, 71.
17

period. This group along with the Ottoman Greek subjects and protected Greeks played crucial
role in the formation of middle bourgeoisie class in zmir and Asia Minor,
32
which I will mention
in section 2.1.1. Therefore, I identfy three groups of Greeks Ottoman Greeks, protected Greeks
and migrants of Greeks of Greece as zmir Greeks.
As far as Muslim Turks are considered in zmir, I used the term Muslim or Turk
interchangeably, since Muslim refers to Turk in the Empire. I preferred not to use the pair of the
terms Orthodox Christian and Muslim. The two terms are religious categories, but an
Orthodox Christian might be a Greek, a Bulgarian, a Serb or a Russian in zmir. Therefore,
instead of Muslims and Orthodox Christians, for the sake of this study I used terms Ottoman
Greeks and Muslims or Ottoman Greeks and Turks, and protected Greeks, Greek
nationals, and Greeks of Greece.


Literature Review
Before turning to zmir in the period 1826-64, it is worth reviewing the historiography of
the city. I benefited from the extensive works of Reat Kasaba, Elena Frangakis-Syrett and
Daniel Goffman on zmir that studied how this city grew and played an important role at
different periods in the long history of the Ottoman Empire. I also used the publications of zmir

32
Anagnastopoulou, 1998, p. 307. The Ottoman Greeks had the right of obtaining Greek citizenship easily by the
Kanlca Agreement (27 May 1855). This solved commercial and diplomatic problems between the Ottoman and
Greek state, however, the identity problems of the Ottoman Greeks continued to exist. Citizenship law (19 July
1869) brought new regulations for this identity problem through interference of the big Western States: Before 1869,
the Ottoman state used to recognize the Otoman Greeks who obtained Greek citizenship as Greek nationals. After
1869, the Otoman Greeks who obtained Greek citizenship through staying in Greece for three years, were not
recognized as Greek citizens by the Ottoman state anymore, but recognized by the Greek state as Greek citizens.
This made them to be subjected to the tax regulations of the Ottoman subjects in the Empire that they opposed to. As
a result, the Ottoman state although did not recognize the Greek cizitensip of the Ottoman Greeks sometimes winked
at them to pay lesser taxes, however sometimes treated them as Ottoman subjects. This made them to search for
ways to persuade the Ottoman state to accept them as foreign nationals. As result, this double identity of the
Ottoman Greeks, on the one hand, made them to increase their wealth, on the other hand, led to confusion and
disorder in their economic relations with the Ottoman state in terms of payment and amount of taxes. Therefore, this
led tension between the Ottoman and Greek state. Ibid., pp. 310-312.
18

Municipality on zmir. Of these zmir series, I benefited the most from Mbahat Ktkolus
works on Izmir. Works of some other Turkish historians, like Adnan Bilget,
33
nar Atay,
34
and
Rauf Beyru,
35
also give us clues with which to explore the communal relations in zmir in the
19
th
century.
The Izmir series of Christos Sokratous Solomonidis, who was from zmir, provide
extensive and detailed knowledge about various aspects of 19
th
century zmir. Solomonidis was
born in zmir in 1897 and died in Athens in 1976. His father published the most influential Greek
Newspaper Amalthia in zmir for many years (1838-1922). The Hellenic Character of Smyrna,
1821-1922,
36
Journalism in Smyrna, 1821-1922,
37
Smyrna Triology: Smyrna during the
awakening, Easter of the unredeemed Greeks, independent Smyrna,
38
and Theatre in Smyrna,
1657-1922
39
are only some examples of Solomonidis series of books on zmir, which I have
used in this study. He did not use any archival material he was not a professional historian
and dedicated his works to prove the Hellenic character of his hometown by extensively using
traveler accounts and Greek books of the pre-1922 era. Although his works involve a lot
information about the relationships among the communities of zmir, he did not analyze Greek
and Turkish relations in an objective manner.
Solomonidis represents the Eurocentric approach, where Ottoman history is examined
through a comparison of Islamic civilization with Western civilization, which is always
presented to the advantage of the latter by emphasizing Muslim backwardness. Some

33
Adnan Bilget, Son Yzylda zmir ehri, [The History of the City of zmir in the Last Century] (zmir, n.p., 1949).
34
nar Atay, Tarih inde zmir, [zmir in History], (zmir: n.p.,1978).
35
Rauf Beyru, zmir ehri zerine Bir nceleme [An Analysis on the City of zmir], (Ankara: ODT, 1969), 18. ve
19.Yzyllarda zmir [zmir in 18th and 19th Centuries], (zmir: Teksir, 1973).
36
Christos Sokratous Solomonidis, , [The Hellenic Character of zmir], (Athens, n.p.,
1972).
37
Christos Sokratous Solomomidis, (1821-1922), [ Journalism in zmir, (1821-1922],
(Athens, n.p.,1959).
38
Christos Sokratous Solomonidis, : , ,
[zmir Triology: zmir During the Awakening, The easter of the unredeemed Greeks, Independent zmir]
(Athens, n.p.,1970).
39
Christos Sokratous Solomonidis, (1657-1922), [Theathre in Smyrna (1657-1922)],
(Athens, n.p.,1954).
19

professional and local amateur Turkish historians, by contrast, have contested this approach in
writing the history of zmir. They produced works which gave rise to the idea of the
multiculturalism of zmir, even though they themselves did not emphasize the multiculturalism
of the city or approach zmir as a multi-cultural Ottoman society.
40
Tuncer Baykara is among
those who criticized conventional western approaches.
41
In rejecting the arguments of the
Eurocentric approach, he emphasized the Turkishness of the city and the destructive influence
of the non-Muslims over the real native Turkish inhabitants of the city.
42
General histories of
zmir, like that of Tuncer Baykara, who attempted to reveal the Turkish zmir, strongly
contradict the general perception that zmir was an infidel (gavur) city, because of the
presence of a considerable number of non-Muslim population.
43
Moreover, to view the Turkish
population of zmir as the real owners of the city is a mistaken and inaccurate starting point if
one wants to begin to understand the multi-ethno-religious zmir society. In addition to Baykara,
Rauf Beyru calls the Turks of zmir the real owners of the city, (kentin asl sahipleri)
44
when
discussing the communities and population of zmir in his book Life in the 19
th
century zmir.
45

Not only professional and amateur historians, but also travelers named the Turks of zmir the
real owners of the city or of the country.
46
Since they shared the same religion with the ruling
Ottoman dynasty, the Turks might be seen as the representatives of the state and real owners of
the city by the travelers in the 19
th
century. Ziya Somar, a Turkish literary figure, described
intellectual and literary developments in the Turkish community of zmir in the late 19th and

40
Halit Ziya Uakligil. Krk Yl, [Forty Years] v.1-5, (stanbul: stanbul Matbaaclk ve Neriyat, 1936); Dursun, M.
Kamil. zmir Hatralar [Memoirs of zmir]. ed. enel, nal (zmir: Akademi Kitabevi, 1994); Nail Moral,
Mtarekede zmir, nceleri ve Sonralar [zmir During the Armistice, Before and After], (stanbul: Tekin, 1976);
Yaar Aksoy, Bir Kent, Bir nsan: zmir'in Son Yzyl, S. Ferit Eczacba'nn Yaam ve Anlar [A City, A Person:
The Last Century of zmir, The Life and Memoirs of S. Ferit Eczacba] (stanbul: Dr. Nejat Eczacba Vakf,
1986).
41
Tuncer Baykara, zmir ehri Tarihi [History of City of zmir], (zmir: Ege niversitesi Matbaas, 1974).
42
Baykara, 1974, 63-64.
43
Baykara, 1974, pp. V-VI, 21, 55, 63.
44
Ibid., p. 65.
45
Rauf Beyru, zmirde Yaam, [Life in zmir in the 19
th
century zmir], (stanbul: Literatr Yaynlar, 2000).
46
Nassau, 1859, p. 190.
20

early 20th centuries.
47
Arkan called Somar's study a valuable and successful attempt to reveal
cultural change in Turkish zmir, in addition to gavur zmir. In his memoirs of zmir, Halit
Ziya Uaklgil, another Turkish literary figure, noted the influence of the missionary schools in
zmir, the culturally and intellectually advantageous position of the non-Muslims, and the
Turkish community's absence in the economic, social and cultural life of the city.
48
Such studies
divided zmir into Gavur zmir and Turkish zmir. Hence, the presumed economic and
social-cultural predominance of the non-Muslim and European communities in zmir have
motivated native historians and writers to seek out the Turkish zmir, as they called it.
Moreover, some amateur historians have also focused on demonstrating the Turkish character of
the city.
49
However, they have not discussed the issue in the framework of a likely existence of
multiculturalism or harmonious coexistence and interaction between the various ethno-religious
communities of zmir. It is true that the Eurocentric approach often ignores and silences the
Muslim Turkish communities of the empire. However, I argue that without freeing ourselves
from nationalist or nativist attachments, expressed in studies that try to demonstrate the Turkish
or Hellenic character of the city, social histories cannot contribute to reveal a more accurate
picture of the multi-ethno-religious Ottoman cities. Even in the studies that have dealt with the
social history of Izmir, intercommunal relations have been neglected. In examining this issue, I
prefer to view the society of zmir as an organic whole, with both Muslims and non-Muslims
populating one city, rather than dividing it into two parts: the Gavur and the Turkish.
zmirs history gained considerable attention in last ten years through the publications of
scholarly studies by the zmir Municipality. Its publications of the series of zmir books since the

47
Somar, 2001.
48
Halit Ziya Uaklgil published one of the first Turkish journals of zmir, Nevruz (1884) with Bakzade Hakk
and Tevfik Nevzat. He wrote in the first newspapers of zmir, Hizmet (1886) and Ahenk (1895), in order to revive
Turkish cultural life of the city.
49
Melih Grsoy, Tarihi, Ekonomisi ve nsanlar ile Bizim zmirimiz, [Our zmir with its History, Economy and
People], (zmir: 1993); akir Mehmet, mbatn Trks Gavur zmirden Gzel zmire, [The Folksong of Imbat,
from Gavur zmir to Beatiful zmir], (zmir, 1989); U.Olga, Gzel zmir ne idi ne oldu, [How was the Beatiful
zmir and What Happened], (zmir: 1939); Mehmet Okurer, Kurtulutan Kurulua zmir, [zmir from Independence
to Foundatin], (zmir: 1970).
21

year 2000, revealed various unknown aspects in the history of zmir.
50
In the present literature,
the best known works on zmir are about the economic history of zmir in 15
th
, 16
th
, 18
th
and 19
th

centuries: Relying exclusively on Ottoman archival material and some consular reports, Mbahat
Ktkolu produced studies mostly on the economic histories of zmir, for the 15
th
, 16
th
, and 19
th
centuries.
51
While she does not examine the data in terms of social and cultural history, her
studies do enable us to understand the economic development of zmir and demographic
structure of of the city from in the 16
th
and 19
th
centuries. The other three basic studies on the
city were carried out by Reat Kasaba,
52
Elena Frangakis Syrett
53
and Daniel Goffman.
54
They
commonly emphasized that the cosmopolitan population of zmir served this city well. zmir
grew as a major commercial center and managed to resist or recover from external assaults and

50
Besmi Nusret Kaygusuz, Bir Roman Gibi, [Like a Novel] (zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar,
Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2
nd
. ed., 2002); Engin Berber, Rumeliden zmire Yitik Yaamlarn zinde [The Lost Lives
from Rumelia to zmir] (zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kent Kitapl Yaynlar,2002); NedimAtilla, zmir
Posta Tarihi (1841-2001) [Postal History of zmir 1841-2001]. zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar,
Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2001; lhan Pnar, Haclar, Seyyahlar, Misyonerler ve zmir : Yabanclarn Gzyle Osmanl
Dneminde zmir, 1608-1918, [Pilgrims, Travellers and Missionaries and zmir: zmir from the eyes of foreigners,
1608-1918], (zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2001); Fransz
Seyahatnameleri ve Tarihin aynasnda zmir Kolokyumu, (zmir: zmir Byk ehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar,
Kent Kitapl Dizisi 2002); Mbahat Ktkolu, zmir Tarihinden Kesitler [Notes from History of zmir], (zmir:
zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2000), XV ve XVI. Asrlarda zmir Kazasnn
Sosyal ve ktisadi Yaps [Social and Economic Structure of the District of zmir in the 15th and 16th Centuries],
(zmir : zmir zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2000); .Olaf Yaranga, 19.
Yzyln lk Yarsnda Fransz Gezginlerin Anlatmlarnda zmir [zmir in the Accounts of the French Travelers in
the second half of the 19
th
century], (zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi 1
st

ed. 2000, 2
nd
. ed. 2002); Zeki Arkan, zmir Basnndan Semeler, 1872-1922, [Selections from the zmir Press,
1872-1922] (zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi , 2001; Ziya Somar, Yakn
alarn Fikir ve Edebiyat Tarihimizde zmir [In Our History of Intellectual and Literature, zmir], 1st. Ed. , 1944,
2nd. ed., zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2001.
51
Mbahat Ktkolu, XV. ve XVI. Asrlarda zmir Kazasnn Sosyal ve ktisadi Yaps, 2000, zmir Tarihinden
Kesitler, 2000), "zmir Ticaret Odas statistiklerine Gre XX. Yzyl Balarnda zmir Ticareti," in Son Yzyllarda
zmir ve Bat Anadolu Uluslararas Sempozyumu Teblileri, ed. Tuncer Baykara, zmir: Akademi Kitapevi, 1993),
Yunan syan Srasnda Anadolu ve Adalar Rumlarnn Tutumlar ve Sonular, in Tarih Boyunca Trk-Yunan
likileri, nc Askeri Tarih Semineri Bildiriler, (Ankara: Genel Kurmay Basmevi, 1986).
52
Reat Kasaba, The Ottoman Empire and The World Economy, The Nineteenth Century, (New York: State
University of New York, 1988), "Was There a Compradore Bourgeoisie in Mid-Nineteenth Century Western
Anatolia?", Review, XL, 2, Spring, 1988, pp. 215-228, "zmir ", Review, XVI, 4, Fall, 1993, pp. 387-410.
53
Elena Frangakis Syrett, The Commerce of zmir in The Eighteenth Century 1700-1820, (Athens: The Center for
Asia Minor Studies, 1992), "The Economic Activities of the Greek Community of zmir in the Second half of the
19th and Early 20th Centuries" in Ottoman Greeks in the Age of Nationalism, 1999, eds. Issawi and Gondicas,
"Western and Local Entrepreneurs in zmir in the 19th and early 20th Centuries," in Son Yzyllarda zmir ve Bat
Anadolu Uluslararas Sempozyumu Teblileri, ed. Tuncer Baykara, (zmir: Akademi Kitapevi), 1993.
54
Daniel Goffman, zmir and the Levantine World, 1550-1650, (Seattle: Washington University Press, 1990),
zmir from Village to Colonial Port City, in The Ottoman City between East and West, Aleppo, zmir, and
stanbul, eds. Edhem Eldem, Daniel Goffman, & Bruce Masters, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1st ed.
1999, 2nd ed., 2000).
22

natural disasters that visited the city persistently and regularly. They argued that that the
economic wealth and the strength of local commercial networks played a key role in providing
the people of the city to become the agents of a long term of growth. In their analyses, the
political and economic sites of power worked in cross purposes; the latter trying to contain the
former. They all agreed that the collaboration of the people of Izmir, especially Ottoman Greeks
and Turks residents of the city was indispensable for the long term prosperity of the city.
However, the nature of the communal relations among the people of the city was left
unaddressed by them.
Trying to filling this lacuna, this dissertation has examined communal relations of the city
through the window of the Greek-Turkish relations. In doing this, it challenges the current
literature of the Ottoman reforms, and re-interprets Ottoman reforms. Rather than seeing them as
a set of western imposed policies that led to a radical break with the pre-Tanzimat regulations
and favored the empires non-Muslim population, it argues that these reforms actually opened up
new ways of co-existing and reinforcing each other to the people of different ethno-religious
communities in Izmir. As this study argued, not interfering in the social and cultural relations
among the people of zmir and controlling social order and cohesion of the society by benefiting
from both Tanzimat and pre-Tanzimat principles, the imperial government played an important
role in generating the prosperity of the city.
Another comprehensive study on Asia Minor from the beginning of the 19
th
century to
1919 was written by Sia Anagnostopoulou.
55
Examining various kinds of relations, she deals
with the class issue, the formation of middle bourgeoisie, and the community organization and
administration of the zmir Greeks and the administration of the city itself, specifically after the
years 1876, as the center of Asia Minor. Although in some places she mentioned the

55
Sia Anagnostopoulou, , 19

-1919.
[Asia Minor, 19th c.- 1919. The Greekorthodox Communities. From Millet-i rum to the Greek
Nation] (Athens: Ellinika Grammata, 1998).
23

intercommunal interaction among the different community members, her focus is not directly on
communal relations in the city, especially for the given period of this study.
Some recent studies have analyzed social interaction in the multi ethno-religious society
of zmir from different angles: Sibel Zandi-Sayek examines the characteristics of cultural
plurality and coexistence in zmir through the social and physical context of public events
between 1840 and 1890. She contradicts the general idea of adversity between Muslim and non-
Muslim communities. She demonstrates that "The Smyrniotes organized themselves across
religious, ethnic, and national divides to confront, embrace, and act upon the Tanzimat
changes."
56
Zandi-Sayek offers valuable insights into communal relations during the Ottoman
reforms by using mostly the physical organization of the city, and the place of Muslims and non-
Muslims in it. However, she does not directly deal with communal interaction at the social level
among the communities. Similarly, Marie-Carmen Smyrnelis dissertation also focuses on the
inter-communal relations in the multi ethno-religious public sphere of zmir.
57
Her study
concentrates on the late 18
th
and early 19
th
Centuries of zmir. Having largely depended on
Ottoman historiography in French, she proves the existence of communal interaction basically
between the European and other ethno-religious communities of the city by analyzing century
old dynamics of multi-cultural co-existence. Analyzing basically Europeans relations with the
Ottoman non-Muslims and Muslim communities and proving their interaction at various levels in
the society, she did not focus on Greek-Turkish communal relations and use Ottoman-Turkish
and Greek first hand sources. Oliver Schmitts work on Levantine identity and life in the
Ottoman Empire analyzed Levantine identity and life in the Ottoman Empire with the examples

56
Sibel Zandi Sayek, Public space and urban citizens: Ottoman zmir in the remaking, 18401890, Unpublished
Dissertation, (University of California, Berkeley, 2001), Orchestrating Difference, Performing Identity: Urban
Space and Public Rituals in Nineteenth Century zmir, in Hybrid Urbanism: On the identity discourse and the built
environment, ed. Nezar Al Sayyad, (Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2001).
57
Marie Carmen Smyrnelis, Une socit hors de soi: Identits et relations socials a Smyrne aux XVIIIe et XIXe
sicles, unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, (Paris: Ecole des Hautes en sciences Sociales, 2000).
24

of zmir and the Pera and Galata districts of stanbul.
58
The focus of his work is not communal
relations in the city, but the impact of the factors like the Tanzimat regulations, the influence of
the Catholic Church and consuls, the special position of zmir regarding its commercial relations,
and a growing anti-Catholic sentiment in the West on the Levanine identity in zmir. Challenging
the conventional approaches of nation-building processes and their impact on the Ottoman
Levantines identity, he touchs upon the issue of communal interaction, which is not the basic
focus in his work.
This study specifically analyzes communal relations in zmir from the perspective of
Greek-Turkish relations. The places of interaction manifested themselves in the urban
organization of the city: commonly shared neighbourhoods, bazaars and working places in the
khans, and festivities, and Islamic and commercial courts were the main places of social
interaction among people of zmir with different ethno-religious background. Examining the
interstices of the Ottoman Greek and Muslim communities of zmir during the transformation of
Ottoman society from 1826 to 1864, this study aims to contribute to recently written urban social
histories of the Ottoman cities.





58
Oliver J. Schmitt, Levantiner, Lebenswelten und Identitaten einer etnokonfessinollen Gruppe im osmanischen
Reich in langen 19. Jahrundert [Levantines: Life Worlds and Identities of an Ethno-Denominatinal Group in the
Ottoman Empire during the Long 19th Century] (Sdosteuropaische Arbeitten 122, Mnchen: r. Oldenbourg,
2005).
25
Chapter 1. zmir 1826-64
Introduction
zmir was neither a province (it became province in 1866) nor
had a municipality (it was founded in 1868) within the given period of this study (1826-1864).
The years of 1826 and 1864 marked a turning point in the administrative history of the Ottoman
Empire: 1826 was the year in which the Janissaries were destroyed, and during which the Greek
revolt was in full swing, and 1864 was the year when New Provincial Organization was issued.
The Greek revolt led to a change in Sultans perception of the non-Muslims Ottoman
subjects as he became suspicious of their loyalty to the state. This played a crucial role in the
military and administrative re-organization of the Empire, which, in turn, led to the change in the
economic and social relations in the Ottoman society.
The administrative organization of the cities changed after the destruction of the
Janissaries in 1826. Their elimination was not simply a change in the military structure of the
Empire: When Mahmud II abolished the Janissary corps, the kad lost his means (kolluk
kuvvetleri), which were the Janissaries, to carry out his municipal responsibilities, from ensuring
social order and controlling market prices. The ministry of ihtisab
59
(ihtisab nazrl) was
founded in stanbul, and ihtisab nazr (the minister of ihtisab) replaced kad's municipal duties
regarding social order and the collection of taxes, and the organization of urban life, but only
until the police organization (1845), and the office of public security (Zabtiye Mirlii, 1846)
was founded to carry out these duties of the ihtisab nazrl.
60
As far as the 1864 New Provincial
Organization is considered, it accelerated the urban transformation of all cities and provinces of
the Empire: New provincial units, vilayets, replaced the traditional eyalet system. Although this
new organization aimed at increasing the authority of local governors, ironically, it preserved the

59
htisab: Office of the superintendent of guilds and markets. Redhouse, Trke-ngilizce Szl [Redhouse,
Trkish-english Dictionary], 13
th
ed., stanbul: Redhouse Yaynevi, 1993.
60
See FN 7.
26

centralized administration, and led to an effective administration of the provinces by the center.
61

This dissertation aims to highlight that the urban modernization and transformation of zmir
began through its economic, administrative and social-cultural dynamics while the city even was
not yet a province itself and did not benefit from the Provincial Organizations of 1864 and 1871.
The basic idea of the Tanzimat reforms evolved during the transition from the rule of
Selim III to Mahmud II. The latter managed to initiate Westernization efforts of the former. After
the experience of Selim IIIs conflict with the ayans, who led the execution of him, Mahmud II
carefully dealt with them in the following years. Although the imperial government of Mahmud
II ratified Sened-i ttifak (the Deed of agreement) with the leading ayans in 1808, he was quick to
attempt to restore central authority over them after the 1820s. Moreover, Selim IIIs
unsuccessful attempt of replacing Janissaries with the Nizam- Cedid Army (The Army of New
Order) was accomplished by Mahmud II as well. However, Mahmud II went further and also
abolished the Bektashi order that was closely associated with the Janissaries, and implemented
strict policies in the capital to control public opinion and impose the central character of the
sultanate over the society. That is to say, Mahmud II effectively implemented control
mechanisms in the state aparatus and society. He was more radical or had enough time to be
more radical than Selim III to take necessary precautions in restoring the centralization of the
sultanate. Hence, he was able to get ulema and some leading bureaucrats to prepare the basic
principles of the 1839 imperial edict without deviating from the Islamic tradition of the Empire.
That is to say, (as it will be discussed in the section of Ottoman Modernization) the period of
the Westernization reforms of the sultanate, which Selim III pioneered, was the transformation
period in the Empire. In other words, the imperial center began to struggle to adapt itself to the
changing military, economic, political and social relations in the West.

61
See FN 8.
27

In the pages that follow the impact of the 1839 and 1856 imperial edicts on zmirs
communal relations will be discussed. But during this transformation period some pivotal events
also occurred in zmir: destructive earthquakes of 1817, 1834, and the big fire of 1845, and re-
ocurrance of the epidemics of plague and cholera in the city until the 1840s that led to a serious
decimal of the population; the outbreak of the Greek Revolt in Morea in 1821, which negatively
affected zmirs society in economic and social terms. However, this did not last a long time, the
efforts of the center and local athorities managed to control social tensions in the city by 1823;


The General Image of zmir in the 1800s from the gaze of outsiders
Traveler and missionary accounts of zmir exist in abundance, especially in the 19
th

century.
62
Considering their Eurocentric biases in their accounts, I did not use travelers
observations in analyzing communal relations in zmir. I used their accounts in order to gather
factual information about the location of the neighborhoods and the events furing the turbulent
times in the city such as the 1797 Janissary instigated revolt and the years of the Greek revolt.
Travelers stayed in the cities they visited only for a limited period of time and in a certain place
and usually in the Frank district of zmir. Therefore, they did not have the chance to see and
observe every part of the city. They were not residents of the cities they visited, unlike the
missionaries, who became residents who observed the economic, social and cultural situation of
the city. Therefore, missionary accounts provide more accurate evaluations of the social and
cultural life of the cities they lived in.

62
Weber, S.H., Voyages and Travels in the Near-East Made During the 19th Century, (Princeton, n.p., 1952), this
book is a collection of essays of travellers who visited zmir in the 19th century; lhan Pnar, Haclar, Seyyahlar,
Misyonerler ve zmir: Yabanclarn Gzyle Osmanl Dneminde zmir, 1608-1918, [Pilgrims, Travellers and
Missionaries and zmir: zmir from the eyes of foreigners, 1608-1918], (zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kent
Kitapl Yaynlar, 2001); Fransz Seyahatnameleri ve Tarihin aynasnda zmir Kolokyumu, (zmir: zmir Byk
ehir Belediyesi, 2002); Olaf Yaranga, 19. Yzyln lk Yarsnda Fransz Gezginlerin Anlatmlarnda zmir [zmir
in the Accounts of the French Travelers in the second half of the 19
th
century], (zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi
Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 1
st
ed. 2000, 2
nd
. ed. 2002).
28

Rauf Beyru explored the social and cultural life in the city by extensive use of travelers
writings.
63
Through the use of travelers accounts Beyru gave direct quotations as much as
possible for every aspect of social life in the city. Quoting various positive and negative accounts
of travelers made his work the most reliable among others which also depended on traveler
accounts.
British and American missionaries stressed the cosmopolitan structure and influence of
the European community in the city.
64
Both missionaries and travelers made note of the liberal
and tolerant social life in zmir. Some travelers explained the reason for this tolerance and
peaceful life in zmir by saying that it was a product of the blend of Asian and Western
traditions. These mixtures combined with commercial relations in the city softened inter
communal relations so that the general religious conservatism of the Ottoman Empire lost its
effect.
65
Almost none of the travelers perceived the coexistence of various ethno-religious
communities in zmir with a positive denotation, such as indication of a peaceful and tolerant
cosmopolitan city. For example, Michaud Poujoulat, defined the society of zmir as a
juxtaposition of different ethno-religious groups of caravans, in his accounts when he traveled to
the East between 1830 and 1831. While presenting the multi-cultural character of zmir, travelers
also noted the diversity of spoken languages in this city. In 1830, Michaud wrote that the
language the Franks used the most was a kind of Italian slung. According to him, Turkish, Italian
and Greek were the most frequently used languages in zmir. He also mentioned that in the

63
Rauf Beyru, 19.yyda zmirde Yaam, [Life in the 19th century zmir], (stanbul: Literatr Yay., 2000).
64
Esra Danacolu, "Anglo Sakson Misyoner Kaynaklarna Gre 19. Yzyln lk Yarsnda zmir ve Bat Anadolu
DemografikYap, Eitim Kurumlar [zmir and Western Anatolia According to Anglo-Saxon Missionary Resouces
in the First Half of the 19th Century, Demographic Structure and Education Institutions], Son Yzylda zmir ve Bat
Anadolu [zmir and Western Anatolia in the Last Century], ed. Tuncer Baykara, (zmir: Akademi Kitapevi, 1993)
267-268, Esra Danacolu quotes O.Cooks's letter, from Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, in 1826,
Williamson's reports to AB in 1820, from American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (AB), the letters
of representative of Aegean region of the London Jews Society, British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS), Mr.
Leeves, in 1823, Barker's letter, from BFBS in 1825 in ibid, pp. 263-279. However, Frankis Vyvan Jago Arundel, a
priest worked in the British consulate in zmir in 1822, notes the insecure social life and societal unrest in the city
after the Greek revolution. Francis Vyvan Jago Arundel'in zmiri: 1822," Pnar, 2001, p. 124.
65
Quoted from J.B. Eyris, Voyage Pittoresque en Asie et an Afrique, 1839 in Beyru, 2000, p. 143, FN. 385.
29

earlier years French was the most commonly used language among the Franks of the city, but it
began to loose its influence as commercial relations deteriorated at the end of the 17
th
and early
18
th
centuries.
66
Another traveler, Francis Herv, noted in 1837 the broken Greek of the
Levantines. He also mentioned the pretentious attitudes of the Levantines, who, for example,
pretended to know many languages, but spoke none of them fluently.
67
Towards the end of the
19
th
century Charles de Scherzer, the Austrio-Hungarian consul to zmir, expressed his
impressions of zmir in a strictly Eurocentric approach: He described European culture as the
source of the tolerant and peaceful character of the city. In 1880 he wrote that It is very pleasing
to see the progress zmir is making in achieving standarts similar to those of the European
culture and tolerance. Western civilization has been embedded in all layers of society so that
zmir enlightens the other provinces of the Empire like a lantern.
68

Almost all travelers noted the invisibility of the Turks in the vital commercial activity of
the city. Turks were depicted as a separate community of the city. Charles Reynaud stated that
their isolated position in the urban organization of the city, on the hills of mount Pagos, which is
called Kadifekale, also proved this. According to him, since they were annoyed by non-Muslims
and Europeans they isolated themselves by withdrawing to one corner of the city.
69
An zmir
guide of 1844 also wrote that the Turks lived apart from the other communities in the city and
they were like foreigners in their own country.
70
Some travelers wrote that there was no
interaction among Jews, Armenians, Greeks, Turks and Levantines in zmir. They had nothing in
common to unite them, although they shared the common city.
71
Almost all travelers mentioned

66
Beyru, 2000, p. 141, FN. 380, quoted from M. Michaud, M. Paujoulat, Correspondance dOrient (1830-1831),
(Tome I, Brksel: N.J.Gregoir, V.Wouthers et Cie, Imprimeur Librarires, Rue Assault, 8, 1841).
67
Beyru, 2000, p. 74.
68
Charles de Scherzer, Smyrne (Considre au point de vue Gorgraphique, Economique et Intellectuel, (Leipzig,
G. Knapp, Libraire, 1880) quoted in Beyru, 2000, p. 144, FN. 387.
69
Charles Reynaud, From Athens to Baalbec (Paris: Furme, 1846) 58 quoted in Yaranga, 2002, p. 31, FN. 76.
70
Yaranga, 2002, p. 32.
71
quoted from M.Michaud, M.Paujoulat, Correspondance dOrient (1830-1831), (Tome I, Brksel: N..J. Gregoir,
V. Wouthers et Cie, Imprimeur Librarires, Rue Assault, 8, 1841) in Beyru, 2000, p. 142, FN. 381; Quoted from
Francis Herv, A Residence in Greece and Turkey, 1837, v. I, p. 378 in Beyru, 2000, p. 143, FN. 382.
30

the vital commercial character and general wealth of the city, foreign trade, and the rich market
bazaar which was full of various eastern and western products. While stressing the multi-cultural
character of zmir and the active role of the Levantines in the economy of the city, they used
clichs and likened it to some other European cities, like Amsterdam or Bordeaux,
72
another
Palmira,
73
Pera of stanbul, Pera of the Levant,
74
the flower of the Levant,
75
and Paris
of the East.
76
This European character of the city was in fact an image they created according to
the particular part of the city they lived in. They mostly lived in the Frank district of the city and
joined the entertainment and social activities of the Levantines. Therefore they could not the
Eastern characteristics of the city in other parts and did not experience the life and activities of
other communities. As Olaf Yaranga mentioned, this depended on the place they stayed at in the
city: They arrived at zmirs port which was in front of Frank Street, and generally stayed in the
Frank district and spent time with the consulate members and European residents of the city.
They did not leave the Frank district and visit other parts of the city, since they were not eager to
explore the East side of zmir.
77
This explains why zmir was the Paris of the East or the
flower of the Levant in the eyes of travelers and why its Eastern character and Turkish
community remained absent in travelers accounts. However, the Journal de Smyrne in 1834
published a readers letter, who complained about Frank Street: The reader noted that almost
every day a fight or an accident would occur in Frank Street, because it was full of barrels,
wooden cases, baskets filled with goods which left no room to move, that it was difficult to walk
and shop in the narrow Frank Street. The reader also complained of the unhealthy physical

72
Quoted from Choiseul-Gouffer, Voyage pittoresque de lEmpire Ottoman, en Grece, dans la Troade, Les lles de
lArchipel et sur les cotes de lAsie-Mineure, by Hasan Zorlusoy, Gezi Anlarnda ve Gnlklerde 18. ve
19.Yzyllarda zmirde Yaam, in Fransz Seyahatnameleri ve Tarihin Aynasnda zmir, (zmir:zmir Bykehir
Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2002), p. 114, FN. 1.
73
Quoted from Chateubriand, Itinraire de Paris a Jerusalem, by Zorlusoy, 2002) p. 114, FN. 2.
74
Charles Mac-Farlane, Constantinople et la Turquie en 1828, quoted in Zorlusoy, 2002, p.114, FN. 3. He wrote
that when you compare the city to other cities of the Ottoman Empire it carried the name of little Pera of Levant
with honor.
75
Gaston Deschamps, Sur les routes dAsie, by Zorlusoy, 2002, p. 115, FN. 8.
76
Yaranga, 2002, pp. 33-36,
77
Ibid., pp. 32-33.
31

conditions of the street and urged the local authorities to take the necessary precautions to raise
zmirs standard of living to the level of other European cities.
78
Moreover, there are some
travelers who noted the dirtiness and narrow streets of the city and even complained about the
unsanitary conditions in Frank Street and likened it to other streets of the city. For example
Alexis de Valon in 1850 wrote that although Frank Street was known to be the most beautiful
and European part of the city, he criticized this fame of Frank Street. He described Frank Street
as a narrow, dirty street lined with unorganized buildings, vegetable remains on the ground
around which donkeys wandered, the porters who pushed people, the donkeys whose
packsaddles knocked people around and the camels passing by one behind the other.
79
Maxime
Du Camps description of the Eastern bazaars in 1844, and Alex de Valons description of Frank
Street in 1850 show similarities: The shops on Frank street, instead of a roof, were covered with
a huge white fabric, which protected people from the powerful sun and heat like a canopy.
80
The
shops in the Eastern bazaars were similarly without a roof, and protected one from the sun by
various pieces of fabric and timber.
81
Therefore, Frank Street and its bazaar was not different
from the other bazaars and streets of the Turkish quarters.
82
Moreover, in the writings of these
two different travelers, continuity, rather than differentiation, is seen between the two arteries of
trade in the city, Frank Street, and the Eastern bazaar. There was no order in the market of Frank
Street either. In both market streets shops sold all types of products, Eastern or European, and
different kinds of sellers or shops were located next to each other: European fabrics were sold in
front of groceries, a textile seller exhibited new hats from Paris next to a Turkish tobacco seller
and a perfume store of a Jew lay side by side to a butcher who skinned his sheep in the middle of

78
Journel de Smyrne, 30 January 1834, quoted in Yaranga, 2002, pp.72-73.
79
Alexis de Valon, Une anne dans le Levant, Voyage en Sicile, en Grce an Turquie, (Paris : Dauvin et Fountaines,
libraries, 1850), quoted in Olaf Yaranga, 2002, p. 71.
80
Alex de Valon, Unne anne dans le Levant, Voyage en Sicile, en Grce et en Turquie, (Paris: Dauvin et Fontaines
libraries, L:O., 1850), pp. 47-48 quoted in ibid, 2002, pp. 71-72, FN. 147.
81
Maxime du Camp, Souvenirs et paysages dOrient, (Paris: Arthur Bertrand, B.N.P, 1848), p. 32 quoted in ibid, p.
73, FN. 148.
82
Yaranga, 2002, p. 73.
32

the street.
83
Furthermore, in spite of what its name indicated, Frank Street was not only
composed of European shops, but also included shops owned by Jews, Greeks and Turks.
84
As a
result, most travelers promoted the European character of zmir through examples such as Frank
Street and the entertainment events of the Levantines while at the same time staying silent its
Eastern features. Such exceptional traveler accounts motivate us into exploring less known sides
of zmir and viewing the city as a whole without differentiating it according to ethno-religious
characters or so-called spatial borders, as did the some European travelers and the historians with
nationalist and nativist tendencies.
Selecting positive or negative aspects of travelers accounts completely depends on the
choice of the researcher. Therefore, The extensive use of travelers accounts in historical studies
also constitutes an important problem concerning the reliability of the academic studies.The
article of a Turkish scholar Hasan Zorlusoy is a good example of such an attitude.
85
Zorlusoy
deliberately overlooked the shortcomings of zmir mentioned in some travelers accounts that
were negative about the city while at the same time presenting all the positive comments on the
citys communal life made by some French travelers. His article, in exaggerated language
attempts to demonstrate the Europeanised and tolerant nature of zmir together with its beauty,
while ignoring the negatively biased writings of their accounts.






83
Valon, 1850, p. 48 quoted in Yaranga, 2002, p. 74, FN. 150.
84
Sibel Zandi Sayek, Public Space and Urban Citizens, Ottoman zmir in the Remaking, 1840-1890, unpublished
dissertation, (Berkeley: University of California, 2001a) 64; Yaranga, 2002, pp. 73-74.
85
Hasan Zorlusoy, Gezi Anlarnda ve Gnlklerde 18. ve 19.Yzyllarda zmirde Yaam, in Fransz
Seyahatnameleri ve Tarihin Aynasnda zmir, (zmir:zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl
Dizisi, 2002).
33

The Early History of zmir & Emerging Center-Periphery Relationships
Before the dominaton of the Ottomans in zmir, in the first centuries A.D. the city was
inhabited by Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks, Crusaders, and Aydnoullar Principality. It came
under the definitive Ottoman rule during the reign of Murad II in 1426.
86
When the Ottoman
imperial government secured its rule in zmir, it saw zmir and its hinterland simply as a granary
to feed the capital. In the 16
th
century people of zmir struggled to conduct commercial activities
through their own means without any support of the center. Even, it implemented restrictive
policies for the economic development of the city in international terms, in order to secure the
need of food for the capital. However, it did not place importance on the citys economic or
social-cultural development.
87
Therefore, the emergence of the city as an international port city
in Eastern Mediterranean in the 17
th
century owed little to Ottoman policies.
88
However, state
changed its policies towards zmir in the 17
th
century. zmir began to gain prominence as a
Mediterranean port city in the 17
th
century
89
and it was zmir, not stanbul, that developed into a
center of a promising commercial network, in spite of the restrictive policies and frequent
interference from the center in earlier centuries.
90
Features peculiar to zmir generated the citys
economic development through its networks so that it became a pioneering port city providing
trade for the empire with Western Europe by the 18
th
century. The reasons for this economic
growth, which played significant role for the interaction of the people of the city with different
ethno-religious backgrounds, can be summarized as follows: Firstly, a significant commercial
community Dutch, English, French, and Venetian that settled in the city in the earlier century

86
Daniel Goffman, zmir from Village to Colonial Port City, in The Ottoman City between East and West, Aleppo,
zmir, and stanbul, eds. Edhem Eldem, Daniel Goffman, & Bruce Masters, (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1st ed. 1999, 2nd ed., 2000), p. 81, 86; Reat Kasaba, zmir, Review, v. XVI, n.4, Fall 1993, p. 389.
87
Ibid., pp. 86-87.
88
Ibid., p. 83.
89
Reat Kasaba, The Ottoman Empire and The World Economy, The Nineteenth Century, (Albany: The State
University of New York, 1988a) 97.
90
Goffman, 2000, p.90.
34

provided strong ties with commercial centers and other parts of the Mediterranean.
91
Dutch,
English, French, and Venetian merchants wanted to conduct their commercial activities in a port
city in the Eastern Mediterranean, which did not have strict rules and regulations similar to
Aleppo.
92
The dangerous conditions and unrest, resulting from the Ottoman-Safavid wars (1588-
1628), made the trade route to and from Aleppo insecure in the late 16
th
century. Thus European
merchants were forced to search for a new more secure port in the region.
93
As a result, western
European consulates were established in the port of zmir in the 17
th
century.
94
These European
merchants formed small companies that sold textiles or bought raisins, dried figs, cotton, and
wool, and even grains both through legal purchasing or smuggling. The decline of central
authority in Western Anatolia at the end of the 16
th
and at the beginning of the 17
th
century
because of the Celali revolts, also provided European merchants with profitable deals made with
the local rulers concerning customs and other regulations.
95
Secondly, zmir became an
important center for the cotton and silk trade, which played an important role in its economic
growth. European merchants were basically in search of cotton, which was available in good
quality in the hinterland of zmir. The high demand for cotton, silk and at the end of the 17
th

century mohair yarn played a crucial role in the development of the international trade of the
city. The insecure conditions in Aleppo and the high import taxes levied on Persian silk in Bursa
led to the transfer of the Persian silk caravan trade route to zmir. Persian Silk traders began to
come to zmir, instead of Bursa, which was a significant center of silk production, to avoid the
high taxes in Bursa. Hence, zmir became one of the most important silk trade centers in the
Empire.
96
High profits led to greater investments and larger organizations so that an intricate

91
Kasaba, 1993, p. 389; Elena Frangakis-Syrett, The Commerce of Smyrna in the Eighteenth Century, 1700-1820,
(Athens: Centre for Asia Minor Studies, 1992) 41.
92
Daniel Goffman, zmir and the Levantine World, 1550-1650, (Seattle: Washington University Press, 1990).
93
Frangakis Syrett, 1992, p. 25.
94
Ibid., 1992, p. 24.
95
Ibid., 1992, p. 24.
96
Ibid, 1992, pp. 24-25.
35

commercial network connected western Anatolian towns and drew goods and people to the port
city of Western Anatolia by the 1640s.
97
zmir was part of this commercial web in five ways:
first, it was luring to gigantic commercial agents of western Europe, that were represented by the
consuls and merchants from Amsterdam, London, Marseilles, and Venice; second, it provided a
food supply to these gigantic agents mostly through the Ottoman non-Muslims. The main
innovation in these transactions was the accumulation and shipment of goods to western Europe
and not to stanbul.
98
In the 1650s and 1660s the internal commercial growth of zmir increased
due to an influx of merchants from the Atlantic, Armenian Christians, Orthodox Greeks and
Jewish people to the region to have a share in the wealth of the city.
99
Thirdly, the change in
imperial policy also played a role in the economic development of the city, which in turn
affected its soclai and cultural development. The Ottoman state ceased to discourage the
development of an international commercial network in zmir at the beginning of the 17
th

century, as it had done in the 16
th
century. Instead, it started to view the city as an additional
source of income for the treasury and army. Therefore, after the 1660s, the central authority
began to encourage international commerce in the city and to re-integrate it into the empires
economic and administrative structure to be able to benefit from its wealth.
100
So much so that it
implemented policies making zmir the only influential port in Western Anatolia to conduct trade
with the international market. In order to implement this policy Sancak Kalesi was built to
provide security for the ships, and necessary infrastructure was also developed, such as customs
houses, khans, docks and warehouses, for commercial activity.
101
Furthermore, trade in smaller
ports of other Aegean coastal towns was forbidden by an imperial decree so that the Kuadas
and eme ports had to conduct their trade activities via the port of zmir (their products, grain,

97
Goffman, 2000, p. 90.
98
Ibid.
99
Goffman, 2000, p. 90.
100
Ibid., pp. 90, 105.
101
Frangakis Syrett, 1992, p. 26.
36

fruit, wine, raisins and figs were exported to Europe exclusively through the zmir port).
Moreover, the center also restricted trade in Chios with Europe in favor of zmir, in spite of the
abundance of local products in Chios. (Thus, many people in Chios migrated to zmir and
gradually became greatly involved in the trade.)
102
zmir began to flourish economically through
encouraging imperial policy in the middle of the 17
th
century. The secure natural port of zmir
with its deep water, which provided a safe anchorage, was also another reason why European
merchants were attracted to zmir. The port of zmir was one of the best ones in the world as well
as in the Ottoman Empire.
103
The relative proximity of zmir to the capital rendered the
emergence of great rebellions and social conflict compared to others compared other distant
regions of the Empire. This also turned the city into a secure commercial spot in the Eastern
Mediterranean.
104
Fourthly, the most important institutional arrangements, which played a
crucial role in the citys economic development involving those concerning land possession: the
land in and around zmir was assigned as hass- padiahi in the 16th century. Hass- padiahi
was a dirlik whose tax revenues and administration belonged directly to the sultan. In the
Ottoman tmar system there was principle of mefruzl-kalem ve maktuul-kadem.
105

According to this rule, the governor of province or sancakbeyi could not interfere in the
administration of the dirliks that were allocated to the sultan and high official authorities. These
dirliks were administrated by the owners of dirliks and these dirliks were called serbest

102
Ibid., 1992, pp. 26-27.
103
Frangakis Syret, 1992, p. 29.
104
Ibid., 1992, p. 28.
105
Mefruz'l-kalem ve maktu'u'l-kadem: A phrase used to recognize autonomous status to a peoprty or to guarantee
freedom from outside interference to the possessor of a treasury stipend or allowance. Freely translated it means
separated from the treasury accounts. [Kalem: an item in a financial register, and off limits to all trespass
(literally cut off (from the entry of) the foot], Rhoads Murphy, The functioning of the Ottoman Army under Murad
IV (1623-1639/ 1032-1042), Understansing of the relationship between center and Periphery in 17
th
century Turkey,
Unpublished dissertation, (Chiago, Illinois: University of Chicago, 1979) 316; Mefruz'l-kalem ve maktu'u'l-kadem:
Separated from the pen and cut off from the foot (and) given. Dariuse Kolodziejczyk, The Ottoman Survey Register
of Podolia (ca. 1681), Defter-i Mufassal- Eyalet-i Kamanie, Copies of Privileges Concerning Kara Mustafas
Vakif in Studenjcja, Part I, Appendix v.3, (Harvard: Distrubuted by Harvard University press for the Harvard
Ukrainian Reseacrh Institute, n.a) 279.
37

tmar.
106
Thus, inhabitants of zmir in this system could keep their cultivation types by not
being subject to the classic tmar system that was controlled by the center. This gave inhabitants
of zmir a relative freedom to earn their subsistence and conduct trade, and also contributed to
the preservation a special character of the city not only as a natural secure port, but also a safe
place for refugees with different ethnic and religious backgrounds.
107
Fifthly, the nature of the
relationship between the center and its Western periphery is an important factor to understand
citys social and political basckground: The Ottoman center did not turn zmir into a center of a
separate province until in 1841, when it became the center of the Aydn Province.
108
In earlier
centuries reserved the city as hass- padiahi.
109
Therefore, kad was the city's highest
administrator, not a high-ranking pasha.
110
This provided inhabitants of the city with more
flexibility in conducting business.
111
Unlike the other towns and cities of the Empire, in zmir,
there was little restriction on the power of the kad, who had the privilege of interfering in the
affairs of foreign nations.
112
Moreover, there was a voyvoda
113
who was responsible for the
collection of the taxes from the land called hassa- padiahi for the imperial household.
114

Hence, weak administrative ties of zmir with the center provided communities of zmir with

106
Mefruz'l-kalem ve maktu'u'l-kadem, BOA. MAD. 7589, p. 118-119. Also see Bayram Kodaman, Sultan
II.Abdlhamit Devri Dou Anadolu Politikas [Eastern Anotlia Politics in the period of Sultan Abdlhamid II],
(Ankara: Trk Kltrn Aratrma Enstits, 1987), pp. 5-20; and Mehmet z, IV. Murad Devrine Ait Geleneki
Bir Islahat Teklifi, [A Traditionalist Reform suggestion in the period of Murad IV], Trkiye Gnl, 24 (1993),
pp. 80-85.
107
Kasaba, 1993, p. 389.
108
Tuncer Baykara, zmir ehri Tarihi [History of City of zmir] (zmir: E Matbaas, 1974) 54. Between 1843-
1850, the center of the Aydn Province had been changed, that it became Aydn itself, then in 1850 zmir again
became the center of the Aydn Province. Ibid. zmir became a separate province in 1866. zer Ergen, Osmanl
Klasik Dnemi Kent Tarihiliine Katk, 16.yyda Ankara ve Konya, [A Contribution to the Urban History, Ankara
and Konya in the 16
th
century], (Ankara: Ankara Enstits Vakf Yaynlar, 1995) 142.
109
See section 1.1., p. 4; Baykara, 1974, p. 53.
110
Reat Kasaba, "zmir", Review, XVI, 4, Fall, 1993, 389.
111
Ibid., 1993, p. 390.
112
Daniel Goffman, "zmir from village to colonial port city" in The Ottoman City Between East and West, Aleppo,
zmir, and stanbul, eds. Edhem Eldem, Daniel Goffman, Bruce Masters, (Cambridge University Press, 1999) 85;
Kasaba, 1993, p. 389; Baykara, 1974, p. 53.
113
Voyvoda was governmental officer, who was responsible of collecting has and treasury revenues in the districts.
Musa adrc, Tanzimat Dneminde Anadolu Kentleri'nin Sosyal ve Ekonomik Yaplar [The Social and Economic
Structure of Anatolian Cities during the Tanzimat Period], (Ankara:TTK, 1991) 29-30.
114
Kasaba, 1993, p. 390.
38

relative freedom in developing their connection with the Mediterranean.
115
However, not only
the weak administrative relations with the center, but also encouraging imperial policy to
develop economy of zmir in the 17
th
century
116
should be considered as a factor in the economic
development of the port city towards Europe and Mediterranean. As far as the administrative
relationship between the center and zmir is considered, the registers of Meclis-i Vala suggest a
close relationship between them. Local governors of zmir, zaptiye memuru, muhassl, mir,
mutasarrf had numerous correspondences with the Meclis-i Vala in the center. This indicates
the close contact between the center and local rulers of zmir during the era of the reforms. In
order to understand zmirs peculiar condition vis--vis the Ottoman state, I suggest that we
should think of social-cultural and economic dynamics of zmir, which the city produced with its
multi ethno-religious society. This will be examined in chapters 4 and 5. Finally, customs dues
were one of the most important sources of revenue for the state. The collection of the revenues
was not administrated by the center. Instead it was given as an iltizam
117
(with virtually
autonomous status) to other institutions. And, in providing for these needs of the center, no
single governmental office had control of the organization of the citys relations with the outside
world or other Ottoman ports.
118
All these factors played significant role in the formation of
social cohesion and interaction of the city in which Ottoman non-Muslims, Muslims and
Europeans generated in collaboration.
Having discussed the factors in the economic development of zmir, Kasaba comes to the
conclusion that all this means that under the Ottomans the ties between zmir and the imperial

115
Ibid.
116
Goffman, 2000, pp. 90, 105; Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, pp. 26-27.
117
ltizam meant selling a source of revenue for a specific period of time to a private person, called mltezim.
Mltezims entered into such a contract under the obligation of collecting of the revenue and payment of it to the state
on an established sum. This system of iltizam provided cash supply to the state treasury that was urgently in need of
cash payment for the upkeep of the military. Therefore, from the end of the 16
th
century, the Ottoman state expanded
the iltizam system. ltizam system formed the backbone of the administrative and financial structure of the state.
Halil nalck, Military and Fiscal Transformation in the Ottoman Empire, 1600-1700, Studies in Ottoman Social
and Economic History, (London: Variorum Reprints, 1985), pp. 327-328.
118
Kasaba, 1993, p. 390.
39

center in the 17
th
and 18
th
centuries did not become very strong and, consequently, the
inhabitants of the city continued to enjoy considerable freedom in maintaining and strengthening
their links with the wider Mediterranean.
119
As this study will argue in the following chapters,
the people of zmir paved their own way in forming economic and social relations, which
resulted in economic progress and social cohesion, and maintained them until the beginning of
the 20
th
century. However, this did not occur independently from the policies of the center, in
other words, it did not occur because of the weak bonds between the city of zmir and center. On
the contrary, the residents of zmir began to form their wide international network with the
supporting policies of the center in the middle of the 17
th
century. An already mentioned
example of these policies was to make the port of zmir a unique venue for the conduct of
international trade in the Aegean region at the expense of the ports of Kuadas, eme and
Chios. The people of zmir benefited from the encouraging policies of the center directed
towards their town. As a result, this vital economic activity affected the nature of the communal
relations in the multi-ethno-religious society of zmir. zmir did not have weak relations with the
center in economic terms, but in social and cultural terms. The Ottoman center did not leave
zmir alone and free in forming its economic relations, whereas it left, even if it was
unintentionally, its societal organization and cultural development relatively free. Nevertheless,
during the Tanzimat period it was interested in the maintenance of the citys social order and
integration into the center through its control mechanisms. Since the central authorities were not
interested in the social-cultural development of zmir, but only in its economy, the people of
zmir were relatively free to construct their own kind of social relations. This produced a social
cohesion in the multi ethno-religious society of zmir so much so that the people of zmir
managed to get through the social tension caused by sporadic conflicts in the last three decades

119
Ibid.
40

of the 18
th
century and during the years of the Greek revolt -until the first decade of the 20
th

century.
Within its growing commercial network and wealth, zmir, generally, had a peaceful
social life, until the arrival of pirates from the Barbary Coast. They disturbed the social order of
the city in the 17
th
century. These North African pirates, who got drunk when ashore, annoyed
people with their aggressive attitudes and attacked people with knifes. Shopkeepers were obliged
to close their shops. The state was unable to subdue them effectively, so this unrest continued
until the end of the 17
th
century.
120
Although there is no information about these incidents and
the end of these pirates, mischiefs in the writings of travelers of the period, it was very probable
that it was the leading ayan family of the Karaosmanolu, in zmir that managed to subdue them
with its effective rule and control of order in the city.
121



The Long Eighteenth Century and the Importance of zmir
By the 18
th
century zmir became the main port city for providing the empires external
trade. zmir began to play an important role in the commercial network of western Europe in the
17
th
century, but the major expansion in production for the European market started in zmir in
the middle of the 18th century and continued until the last quarter of the 19th century. The active
involvement of the non-Muslim Ottomans, intermediaries,
122
and foreigners Dutch, English,
French and Venetian inaugurated this process of economic development. zmir continued to be
the export center for the silk trade in that the silk from Bursa and mohair yarn of Ankara were
mainly exported from zmir. The state implemented policies to secure zmir as the main center of

120
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, pp. 57-58; Rauf Beyru, 19.yyda zmirde Yaam, [Life in the 19th century zmir],
(stanbul: Literatr Yay., 2000) 38.
121
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 58.
122
Kasaba, 1993, p. 395; Kasaba, 1988a, pp. 75-85. Local merchants or an individual merchant, whether non-
Muslim or Muslim, either engaging in trade, tax farming, and money landing, is named by Kasaba intermediaries.
Ibid.
41

export of these raw materials in the 18th century.
123
Further to its growth as an international
trade center, the city also gained importance in meeting the military needs of the Empire. zmir
was responsible for providing the necessary supplies and soldiers to the ships of the North
African provinces of Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania and to the imperial navy. It also continued
to feed the capital with products such as olive oil and fruits.
124
Furthermore, its extensive caravan
route with a secure kervensaray network provided a connection between the closer or more
distant places in Anatolia. Thus zmirs hinterland was integrated into the growing international
trade of the city. Finally, not only the city of zmir, but also the whole of the Aegean region and
to some extent some distant places in Anatolia took place in the international economic activity.

125
Hence, such trade and commercial network of people of zmir to interact first in economic
terms, which also resulted in deelopment of
While its economic growth continued, plagues, earthquakes, fires, riots and social
disorder in zmir characterized the 18
th
century. The city was often contaminated by the plague,
which reached zmir both from sea and land, roughly between 1754 and 1837.
126
The most
destructive plague epidemics, which occurred between 1734-1744, 1783-1792, and 1795-1801,
affected the economy and the demography of the city in a negative way.
127
Earthquakes and
following them, big fires, led to the material losses and destruction as well as to the rebuilding of
the citys trade infrastructure, warehouses, khans and marketplaces (bedestan).
128
Such events
also affected the economy of the city negatively. The rising risk factor in investments required a
greater capital, which led to a higher cost of living in the city as food and housing became more
valuable and sparse. From the 17
th
century until the middle of the 18
th
century the cost of living
in the city increased sevenfold. However, the rising prices were not a result of increased demand,

123
Frangakis Syrett, 1992, pp. 31-32.
124
Kasaba 1993, p. 390.
125
Frangakis Syrett, 1992, p. 30.
126
Ibid., pp. 44-45; Baykara, 1974, p. 84.
127
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 47.
128
Ibid., 52-57; Baykara, 1974, pp. 85-86.
42

but of the devaluation of the Ottoman currency.
129
All these, natural disasters and following them
the deteriorated economic life in the city, must not HAVE affected the inter-communal relations
that people of zmir continued to exist in social cohesion and be the main actors of the prosperity
of the city in the following centuries.


Local Notables and the Question of Governance in zmir
The problems of the growing state sanctioned the relatively legitimate power of the land
notables over the central authority was evident in western Anatolian towns, too, as it was in the
Balkan and Arab lands. In the 18
th
century, the Aydn Province had three sancaks, Saruhan,
Aydn and Sula, and zmir was a district (kaza) of Sula.
130
The lack of stable administration in
zmir also contributed to the growing authority of the ayan families in zmir. The Araboullar
family of Pergamum, the Karaosmanoullar of Manisa, the Sarbeyolu Mustafa of Denizli, and
the Katipolu, were the most influential ayan families of western Anatolia. They dominated
political and economic relations in this area in the 18
th
century.
131
Among the ayans of western
Anatolia, the most powerful one was the Karasosmanolu
132
family, which preserved its local
power until the first decade of the 19
th
century.
133
By the last quarter of the 18
th
century, social
order had so much deteriorated that because of a lack of stable administration and strong central
authority, members of the Karaosmanolu family were appointed by the center to secure social
order in the city. The son of Kara Osman, Mustafa Karaosmanolu was very powerful in the

129
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 57.
130
zer Ergen, Salnamelerde zmir, [zmir in the Salnames], in zmir Ticaret Odas 1885-1995, Trkiye
Ekonomisinin 100 Yl zmir ve zmir Ticaret Odas Sempozyumu, 21-23 November 1985, (zmir, 1985) 142;
Baykara, 1974, p. 53.
131
Goffman, 2000, p. 121. Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, pp. 58-61
132
After the death of Kara Osman, his family was named as Karaosmanolu. Kara Osman served in the state as
sipahi and kethda to the mtesellim and controlled the imperial mukataa revenues. Moreover, the state ordered him
to seize the property of zeamet and timar holders who did not help the state during its campaign with Vienna.
Frangakis Syrett, 1992, p. 38.
133
Frangakis-Ssyrett, 1992, pp. 37-39.
43

region in 1730s and 1740s, since he had good relations with the Porte. The state allowed him to
wipe out banditry in western Anatolia and to extend his power over the less powerful ayans as
well was control the tax farming system. He cleared all bandits from western Anatolia by 1739
and became emin (chief cashier) of Manisa and mtesellim of Saruhan in 1743. However,
when people complained about Mustafa Karaosmanolus abuse of power in zmir in 1744, the
state executed him. His son Ata Allah Karaosmanolu succeeded him as mtesellim in Saruhan,
but was dismissed in 1761, because of rumors in the Porte about his plan to take revenge of his
father.
134
Secondary sources on the 18
th
century zmir do not indicate the presence of any
disorder in the communal relations in the city because of the ayan conflicts. As the discussion
below will show, however, the state could not restore social order in zmir without the
involvement of the Karaosmanolu family during the aggressive events of 1770 and 1797.


The Socal Order Disrupted 1770-1820s
As far as social order in zmir is concerned in the 18
th
century, except for the 1770 and
1797 aggressions of janissaries and some group of fanatic Turks, non-Muslim and Muslim
communities lived in generally peaceful terms, and a greater religious toleration existed in zmir
towards Ottoman non-Muslims and Europeans compared to the other regions of the Empire.
135

However, some occasional disturbances occurred: In 1730s, the Zantiots, who were expelled
from Zante, intimidated zmirs society with their robberies and attacks in the urban area.
136

Moreover, occasionally some rebellious groups emerged which comprised of members of ayan
families going against the state or ayans themselves falling into conflict with each other either
because of the collection of taxes or commercial power. From the ayans of the Sarbeyolu

134
Ibid., p. 38.
135
Frangakis Syrett, 1992, p. 35.
136
Ibid., p. 58; Beyru, 2000, p. 39.
44

family, a revolt of economic nature was sparked: As was typical of their attitude, the ayans
would take advantage of the peasants discontent because of the over taxation and their
landlessness, Mustafa Sarbeyolu gained their support and generated a revolt. His followers
headed towards inner western Anatolian cities of Denizli, Saruhan, Manisa and Aydn to plunder.
By 14 March 1738 he marched into zmir to announce himself Pasha of the city.
137
Mustafa
Karaosmanolu, who was ordered by the state to defend the city, hastily built a wall around it in
the limited time he had, but could not prevent Sarbeyolus attack. Eventually, Mustafa
Karaosmanolu convinced Sarbeyolu to withdraw by bribing him. Afterwards, the European
communities in zmir, who feared his possible return, built new gates in their districts, namely
Frank Street. After this event, the city was not attacked again, but the city environs were
repeatedly exposed to bandit attacks.
138
Although after 1760 the state needed powerful and
efficient rulers such as the Karaosmanolu in order to prevent similar uprisings, the state exiled
Mustafa Karaosmanolu, and executed him in 1744.
139

Furthermore, towards the end of the 18
th
century, the non-Muslims and Europeans of
zmir suffered from the aggressiveness of some of the local rulers and a group of fanatic Turks.
Many small uprisings broke out in the city following 1750. One of the most important of these
was the revolt of 1770: The destruction of the Ottoman fleet by the Russians in the battle of
eme and following this, the initial Greek riots in Morea, humiliated some Turks in zmir and
this led to severe tension in the city. The French consul noted that the customs official brahim
Aa murdered all the Greeks in the customs house. Following this event some Turks went out of
control and massacred one thousand five hundred Ottoman Greeks in zmir, two Europeans and
the Dutch dragoman, while the Europeans took refuge in the ships of their respective

137
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, pp. 58-59.
138
Ibid., p. 59.
139
Ibid, pp. 4, 38.
45

countries.
140
Social order could only be restored by the intervention of the Janissaries. Ata Allah
Karaosmanolus successor, his brother Ahmed Aa, was so weak that he could not intervene in
order to punish the rebels. In spite of the need of the center to restore peace in zmir, the state
still insisted on getting rid of the Karaaosmanolu family. Aivas Aa, who was a landowner and
aa from the Bornova district of zmir, came to the city in 1772, to get rid of the Karaosmanolu
influence. The battle between them ended in 1775 with the victory of Ahmed Karaosmanolu
who obtained the support of all the aas of his region including that of the Kapudan Pasha.
141

Unfortunately, when the center re-discharged the Karaosmanolu from zmir during the
big urban riot of 1797, the growing inter- communal conflict reached a point where it could not
be controlled. The 1797 riot in zmir is a good example for the Janissary instigated revolts in the
Ottoman Empire during a period when a weakened central authority could not control the

140
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, `pp. 59-60; Beyru, 2000, pp. 40-41; James Dallawey, James Dallawayin zmiri:1795
[James Dallaways zmir:1795], in Haclar, Seyyahlar Misyonerler ve zmir, Yabanclarn Gzyle Osmanl
Dneminde zmir, 1608-1918, [Pilgrims, Travellers and Missionaries and zmir: zmir from the eyes of foreigners,
1608-1918], lhan Pnar, Haclar, Seyyahlar, Misyonerler ve zmir: Yabanclarn Gzyle Osmanl Dneminde
zmir, 1608-1918, [Pilgrims, Travellers and Missionaries and zmir : zmir from the eyes of foreigners, 1608-1918],
(zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2001) 97. The battle of eme and this
violent event was mentioned by Rauf Beyru by quoting from James Dallaway, by Pnars translation of Jams
Dallaway, who had written by referring to Charles-Claude de Peysonnel, and it is also cited in Elena Frangakis-
Syrett by quoting from Charles-Claude de Peyssonnel, Lettre de M. de Peyssonnel, ancien consul general a Smyrne,
content quelques observations relatives aux memories qui ont paru sous le nom de Baron Tott (Amsterdam, 1785),
pp. 78-80. The number of the Greeks slain is different in these three sources: in Pnars translation it is 1500, in
Beyrus quotation of Dallaway it is 1000, and in Frangakis-Syrett mentioned it as 5000. Beyru, 2000, p. 41, FN.
115; Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, pp. 59-.60, FN. 94; Pnar, 2001, p. 97. I made a cross check from the original letter of
De Peysonnel. He wrote that Ibrahim Aa, gave the example, and fame Sunday, at five oclock in the morning,
began with caufing to be inhumanly killed all the Greeks, workmen of fervants, belonging to the Cuftomm
Houfe.This example was followed in the markets, fquares, crofsways, and quays in the city; in less than four hours
there were fifteen hundred Greeks butchered; two Europeans, Mr. Gargani, a Tufcan Merchant, and Mr. Gallo,
interpreter to the Dutch, likewife fell victims to the rage of this unruly populace Peysonnel, M. de Charles, An
appendix to the memoirs of Baron de Tott; being a Letter from Mr. De Peysonnel, to the Marquis of N, (London:
printed for T. Hookham, 1786), 96-97. Nevertheless, whether one thousand, one thousand five hundred or five
thousand, these numbers are so high that it is enough to show the level of violence occurred within four hours.
Tuncer Baykara, without going into details, also mentioned that some offensive actions occurred against the Greeks
of zmir, but at the beginning precautions were taken and nothing happened. According to Baykara the reason of
these actions was the Greeks cooperation with the Russians in the battle of eme. Baykara, 1974, p. 83. During
these violent events, the governor of zmir was a successor of Karaosmanolu, whose weak administration could not
prevent the massacres; even he was so weak that could not attempt to punish the responsibles of this violence.
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 60.
141
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 61.
46

disorder in the cities.
142
The reappearance of the Zantiots
143
in the city as well played an
important role in the breaking out of the most destructive uprising in zmir on 15 March 1797. In
order to prevent the Zantiots unsociable and aggressive behavior in the city, the European
consuls requested from the Venetian consul, which extended its protection over the Zantiots, to
restrict their numbers in the city. The councils actions were not effective and during the Muslim
religious month of the Ramadan as a result of an argument between Zantiots and Janissaries, a
janissary was killed outside the door of the exhibition of robe dancers. The hostilities instigated
by an aa from the Bornova district, Mehmed, and the kad of zmir, Hac Osman Bolanc,
against the prosperous non-Muslim communities of zmir accompanied the Janissary
instigations. Janissaries marched into the streets with the bloodstained shirt of the deceased
member of their corps and asked the Ottoman officials to hand the delinquents over to them.
Officials refused. Then, they asked the consuls to turn over the Venetian consul in order to
question him on 14 March 1797. He had already taken refuge on his ship. This enraged the
Janissaries even more. Finally, they announced an ultimatum to the European consuls: if in an
hour the guilty were not handed over to them, they would not be responsible for the
consequences.
144
Therefore, on 14 March 1797, the Janissaries began to massacre Europeans and
non-Muslims and destroy their properties. During this riot, a fanatic Turkish mob also joined the
Janissary group and set fire to the Chian Han (Sakz Han).
145
The flame spread to the rest of the
city. In addition to Sakz Han, many houses and shops, and all the houses of the British

142
Richard Clogg, The Smyrna Rebellion of 1797: Some Documents from the British Archives, in I Kathimas
Anatoli: studies in Ottoman Greek History, (stanbul: The Isis Press, 2004) 63.
143
The Zantiots who reappeared in zmir are mentiones Greek Zantiots (Zanteli Rumlar) in Rauf Beyrus
discussion.
144
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p.62; Beyru, 2000, pp. 41-42; Baykara, 1974, p. 83.
145
Sakz Han was located in the Frank district of zmir. We know from the tax registers of 1840 (temett defterleri)
that many zmir Greeks, (but mainly those who were from stendil) either migrants from the islands or native Greeks
of zmir settled in the Frank district of zmir. In the notebook, the location of some houses or shops of the residents
are described by referring to Sakz Han. Therefore, we know that Sakz Han was in the Frank neighbourhood. Nefs-i
zmir kazasnn mahallatnn linoz ahalisinin, emlak, arazi ve temettuatn mbeyyin defter, Babakanlk Osmanl
Arivi, zmir Temett Defteri, [zmir Temett Notebook], n. 2104, 1256 (1840), pp. 41-42, 5
th
and 6
th
registers.
47

merchants were completely destroyed in the Frank district.
146
According to one figure, almost
one thousand five hundred houses, around three hundred shops, and nine consulate buildings
were destroyed in the Frank district.
147
According to British documents the number of Greeks
victims in the 1797 revolt was 1500.
148
Despite the heavy Greek causalities, few Turks and no
Europeans had been killed.
149
During this turmoil, the Zantiots, Sclavonians, Crotians and other
non-Muslims, took advantage of their protected status by the European states and plundered the
remains of the European and non-Muslim properties.
150
This extensive destruction of the city
affected its economy enormously. A serious housing shortage occurred, which caused the
skyrocketing of rents, and in turn the general cost of living and inflation increased so much so
that two years later inflation in the city was still on the increase.
151
As for the delinquents of the
1797 events, the Europeans blamed the Ottoman authorities for not intervening effectively to
prevent such violence and destruction in the city. In the following days, the kad of zmir, Hac
Osman Bolanc, the highest administrator of the city, did not hesitate to continue his threatening
attitude towards the Ottoman non-Muslims and Europeans because of his secure position at the
Porte.
152
His aggressive attitude towards the Ottoman non-Muslims and Levantines in zmir
might be explained not only due to his close relations with the Porte, but also due to the
importance of the office of kad itself in zmir as the highest level administrator of the city. The
state attributed much of the wrongdoings to the Zantiots and Cephaliniots, and avoided punishing
the group of fanatic Turks, who joined the aggression of the Janissaries, in fear of provoking the
Janissaries once again.
153
To be able to restore law and order in the city after the events of 1797,
ironically, the Ottoman center reinstated a member of the Karaosmanolu, Hac Hseyin

146
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p.63; Beyru, 2000, pp. 41-42; Baykara, 1974, p. 83.
147
Beyru, 2000, p. 42.
148
Clogg, 2004, p. 63.
149
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 63.
150
Clogg, 2004, p. 66; Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p.63; Beyru, 2000, p. 42.
151
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 64.
152
Ibid., p. 63.
153
Ibid.
48

Karaosmanolu, who was suggested by the European consuls as well. As mtesellim of Manisa
and governor of Aydn he was also appointed as head of all the officials in zmir (8 April
1797).
154
zmir had commenced the 19
th
century under the powerful rule of the ayan families
following the turbulent events of 1770 and 1797, accompanied by destructive earthquakes, fires
and loss of population as a result of the epidemics, and the trubulent years of the Greek revolt.



Mahmud II, the Greek Revolt and the Impact on zmir
Mahmud II (r.1808-1839) showed his immediate reaction against the Greek revolt in the
early 1820s as soon as the Greek revolt broke out in 1821 in Moldavia. He eliminated influential
power groups, like the Phanariots,
155
later the Janissaries, and, related to them, Bektashis.
156
This
was the first step of the centralizing Ottoman reforms, which affected relations of the state with
its non-Muslim subjects, as it is discussed in chapter 4. The Phanariots dismissal from
governmental posts through which they played a crucial role in the making of foreign policies of
the Ottoman state negatively affected foreing relations. After the 1820s the state made no
diplomatic appointments, and struggled to fill the vacuum by Muslims.
157
That is to say,
Mahmud II concentrated on forming his new cadres with Muslims not only at the military level

154
Ibid., 64. Such revolts were not peculiar to zmir. Other cities, whose their the worsening economic condition
resembled to zmir, also experienced such kind of riots. For example, when the news of the events of 1797 in zmir
reached to Alexandria, a series of attacks occurred against non-Muslims and Europeans there too. When the Greeks
were massacred in the city, the fear of the Europeans increased so much that they had to lock themselves in their
houses as precaution, until the British council obtained the guarantee of the Ottoman state for their safety. Ibid., p.
65.
155
Christine M. Philliou, Worlds, Old and New: Phanariot Networks and the Remaking of Ottoman Governance in
the first half of the 19
th
century, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, (Princeton Univeristy, 2004). The diplomatic
contacts of the Ottoman state with the European states, which were paralyzed by the elimination of the Phanariot
network in 1820-1821, revived with the promulgation of the 1839 Glhane Hatt- Hmayunu and the solution of the
Egypt issue in 1840. Ibid., chapter 3.
156
Hakan Erdem, Recuitment for the Victorious Soldiers of Muhammed the Arab Prvinces, 1826-1828, in
Histories of the Modern Middle East. New Directions, eds. Israel Gershoni at al., (Boulder, 2002) pp. 189-206;
Butrus Abu Manneh, "The Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi and the Bektashi Orders in 1826," in Studies on Islam and the
Ottoman Empire in the 19th century, 1826-1976, (stanbul: The Isis Press, 2001).
157
Philliou, 2004, pp. 162-164, 171-181.
49

by establishing Asakir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye (The Victorious Soldiers of Muhammed),
but also at the administrative level.
158
In the year 1826, in the middle of the Greek revolt, after a
long siege Mahmud II managed to gain centralized control of the Empire when he succeeded to
take back Missolonghi on 23 April 1826. The Missolonghi victory gave Mahmud II courage to
abolish the Janissary corps that he planned since the execution of Halet Efendi in 1822.
159
Later,
the Ottomans seized Athens within a year in June 1827.
160
These were the successes of Ottoman-
Egypt navy, namely brahim Paa, to whom Mahmud II appealed to suppress the rebellions in
Morea. However, these achivements annoyed Britain, France and Russia to the extent that they
gave up conflicts among themselves regarding the power politics in the Near and Middle East
and allied to get rid of the Ottomans in Morea and supported the establishment of the Greek
state. Hence, they negotiated among themselves without the involvement of the Ottoman state
about two major problems: the Greek issue and the Eastern Question, and as a first step they
defeated the Ottoman-Egyptian navy at Navarion in 20 October 1827.
161
The allies in October
1828 forced Mehmed Ali Paa of Egypt to remove his forces from Morea and turned the key
administrative posts to the nascent Greek government.
162
While the Ottoman Empire felt the big
financial burden because of the reform attempts, Russia declared war against the Empire. It
moved into Wallachia and reached Edirne, and in the east it seized the region between Erzurum
and Trabzon. Mahmud II had to ask for help from Britain and France to mediate with Russia that
Edirne Treaty was signed on 14 September 1829 under harsh conditions for the Ottomans:
Russia gained full control of Caucasus, including Georgia, Nahcevan and Erivan, while returning
Erzurum, Kars and Beyazt to the Ottomans. The Ottoman state officially accepted the

158
Virginia Aksan, he Ottoman Military and State Transformation in a Globalizing World, Comparative Studies
of South Asia and Middle East,v. 27, n.2, 2007, pp. 24-25.
159
Caroline Finkel, Ryadan mparatorlua Osmanl, Osmanl mparatorluunun yks 1300-1923, [Osmans
Dream, The Stor of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923], (stanbul: Tima Yaynlar, 2007) 385.
160
Stanford J Shaw and Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, 1808-1975,
(Cambridge, New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1
st
ed. 1977, reprinted 1988) 19, 30.
161
Shaw & Shaw, 1988, p. 30; Finkel, 2007, p. 384.
162
Shaw & Shaw, 1988, p. 31.
50

establishment of the new Greek state and autonomy of Serbia, and granted Russian subjects the
same capitulatory rights that Europen subjects had.
163
In spite of the stipulatons of the Edirne
Treaty and waned prestige of the Ottoman Empire, Mahmud II continued to struggle to
implement his centralizing reform program mainly to increase the revenues of the Empire and to
provide military recovery. The control of another influential group in the state apparatus, the
ulema, for Mahmud II was important in terms of providing legitimization for his plans for the
destruction of the Janissaries and other reform measures.
164
However, according to low level
ulema this defeat of the Ottomans in 1829 by the Russians was the proof for the incompatability
of the Western originated reforms with the Islamic structure of the state. This provided
opportunity for the old Janissaries to cooperate with them and initiate revolts all over Anatolia
between 1829 and 1830.
165
The troubles of the Empire continued in the 1830s, too. The Ottoman
Empire had to deal, and even battle with Mehmed Ali Paa, the governor of Egypt between
1831-1833 and 1838-1839. While brahim Paa moved into Anatolia and defeated the Ottoman
army near Konya, and reached until Ktahya in 1833, Mehmed Ali Paa captured Aleppo,
Damascus, Tripoli, Acre, Haifa, Crete, Beirut, Jerusalem and Nablus. As a result, to be able to
cope with Mehmed Ali Paa, the sultan had to ask for help from one of its adversaires, Russia
and the Hnkar skelesi Treaty was signed on 8 July 1833 between the Ottomans and the
Russians: the Ottoman state assured Russia to close straits against foreing ships so that Black Sea
coast of Russia would be secured from the attacks of Britain and France.
166
When Mehmed Ali
Paa declared his idependence in 1838, the Ottoman army moved into Syria and brahim Paa
very badly defeated the Ottoman army in Nizip (in south of Gaziantep) on 24 June 1838.
167
A
week after the death of Mahmud II, Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia interfered to solve the

163
Ibid., p. 32.
164
Shaw & Shaw, 1988, p. 19, 28.
165
Finkel, 2007, p. 391.
166
Shaw & Shaw, 1988, pp. 33- 34.
167
Ibid., p. 50.
51

Mehmed Ali Paa problem. While France refused to ally with them against Mehmed Ali Paa,
and the rest and the Ottomans signed the convention to provide peace in Levant in July 1840.
According to conditions of this peace convention, while loosing the provinces he captured,
Mehmed Ali Paa and his family was recognized as the hereditary ruler of Egypt by the Ottoman
state.
168

All these events of the 1820s and 1830s were clear indication of the political,
administrative and economic infirmity that Ottoman political legitimacy internally and externally
was at stake. They not only shaped the centralizing reforms and policy making of the Ottoman
Empire, but also balance of European and Russian politics. Britain and France were highly
annoyed by Russian involvement into Ottoman internal affairs. In reality, the three allies of the
past, Britain, France and Russia, were interested in the Eastern question: each of them suspected
the others motives, none of them wanted the other to gain econmic, strategic, military or
territorial advantage in the Ottoman Empire.
The weak Ottoman political control was also apparent in zmir, too. The social disorder
originated from the ayan and state conflict continued to dominate life in the city in the first two
decades of the 19
th
century. Mahmud IIs attempts to get rid of the powerful ayans manifested
itself in the second decade of the 19
th
century in zmir, too. The Porte ordered Kapudan Pasha to
eliminate Katipolu Hac Mehmed Aa, who was the voyvoda of zmir and was loved by both
Europeans and Ottoman non-Muslims and Muslims. He used to collect relatively lower taxes
than his predecessors
169
and was in good terms with the Levantines in the city.
170
His relations
with the Janissaries made him suspicious in the eyes of the sultan, who was planning to eliminate
the Janissary corps. Eliminating Katipolus influence in the region would be a great task. The
Porte appointed Kapudan Pasha Derya Hsrev, who had to fight against fifteen thousand

168
Finkel, 2007, 396.
169
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 65.
170
Beyru, 2000, p. 42.
52

supporters of Katipolu.
171
Finally, Kapudan Pasha killed Katipolu in July 1816.
172
This was
not the end of the chaos in the local administration of the city because riots against the local
administrators of the city continued in 1820 and 1821, during which many of the local rulers,
including the kad, were killed.
173
Such conflicts began to disappear in zmir after a barrack was
built in 1830,
174
when the centralizing reforms had already begun. The destruction of the
Janissary corps in 1826 might also be one of the reasons for the eclipse of such conflicts in the
city. During its struggle to eliminate the power of the ayans in western Anatolia the Ottoman
state naturally did not neglect the most important ayan family, the Karaosmanolu. The state
took away the administration of the Aydn and Saruhan region from the Karaosmanolu in 1816.
However, after having abolished the Janisssary corps and eliminated almost all of the ayan
families in the empire, a member of the Karaosmanolu family was reinstated into the local
administration in 1829 (as it did in the course of the second half of the 18
th
century). He was in
charge as the muhassl of Aydn and the mtesellim of Saruhan.
175

In spite of attempts of Mahmud II to eliminate the ayan families, members of the
Karaosmanolu were so influential in zmir that in 1833 Karaosmanolu Yakup Pasha was
appointed as muhassl of zmir according to the new administrative organization of the Empire.
zmir became the center of the Aydn Province between 1841 and 1843. Later, between 1843 and
1850 the city of Aydn was the center of the Aydn province, after which in 1850 zmir finally
became center of the Aydn province, before becoming a province itself in 1866-67.
176





171
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 65.
172
Baykara, 1974, p. 83; Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 65.
173
Baykara, 1974, p. 82.
174
Ibid., p. 84.
175
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, pp. 37-38.
176
Ergen, 1985, p. 142; Baykara, 1974, p.54;
53

Natural Disasters & Their Impact on the Communites of zmir
In spite of the great destruction caused by the earthquakes of 1688, 1788, 1801, and the
big fires of 1742, 1763, 1817, 1834, 1841 and 1845, and huge mortality rates due to epidemics of
plague and cholera during the 17th and 18th centuries, the city recovered and continued its
economic development in the 19
th
century. During the first two decades of the 19
th
century, zmir
continued to be a plague-ridden city. It is estimated that the population of zmir according to the
data available was decimated by the loss of roughly one hundred thousand people, when the
plague wiped through the city and western Anatolia in 1830.
177
However, a new disease, cholera,
appeared in the city in the summer of 1831, and affected its population by the death of almost six
thousand people, especially Jews. In 1840 again almost four thousand people died because of
cholera. The decrease in population affected the citys economy in such a way that it prevented
the growth of the domestic market, which contributed to the reproduction of merchant capitalism
and it also hindered the development of industrial capitalism.
178
However, natural disasters and
epidemics, which were a constant of the city, could be considered one of the factors that
encouraged the collaboration of the ethno-religious communities.
In the 19
th
century, eight big destructive fires occurred in zmir. The first one was in
1817, during which fifteen hundred houses were destroyed. The second one was in 1825,
destroying two thousand houses and leading to the displacement of ten thousand people. The
third fire occurred in 1834 destroying almost the entire Frank district.
179
Another fire in 1841
damaged the Turkish quarters mostly and destroyed almost all of the Jewish quarter of the city,
(about ten thousand houses were destroyed during this fire).
180
On July the 5
th
1845, a fire
destroyed 95% of the Armenian quarter, (except for 34 houses, all houses and workshops in the
Armenian quarter were destroyed). One out of three of the Greek and Frank neighborhoods,

177
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 46.
178
Ibid., p. 52.
179
Frangakis-Syrett, p.57; Baykara, 1974, pp. 86-87.
180
Baykara, 1974, p. 87.
54

about two to three hundred houses in the Turkish quarter, many houses in the Jewish quarter, and
Greek and Armenian churches were destroyed bringing the estimated number of destroyed
houses to about six thousand.
181
The other three big fires occurred in the second half of the 19
th

century -1857, 1861, and 1882. During the last one two thousand houses were destroyed.
182
In
the second half of the 19
th
century, especially after the 1845 fire, the local authorities considered
taking precautions to prevent destructive fires in the new urban planning of the city. In addition,
the fire teams of the insurance companies struggled to prevent fires, and after the foundation of
the zmir municipality in 1868, the fire department of the municipality also began to participate
in putting out the fires. Therefore, fires did not lead to serious damage in the second half of the
century in zmir. zmir suffered from destructive earthquakes in 1828, 1846, and 1880. The 1880
earthquake especially led to serious damages in Chios and eme.
183

As a result, zmir had grown from a small town of 1,300 residents in the 16
th
century,
184

to a prominent eastern Mediterranean port city with a population of 155,000 in 1878,
185
and of
200,000, at the turn of the 19th century.
186
In spite of the destructive fires and earthquakes of the
18
th
and 19
th
centuries and all the financial and political problems of the Empire, zmir continued
to be a significant center of trade in the international market with an extensive commercial
network through the empire during the 19
th
century
187
along with other port cities, like Beirut,
Salonica and Trabzon.
The port cities of the Empire experienced an economic boost in two periods, the first was
between 1840 and 1870s, the other was at the turn of the century. In the middle of the 19th

181
Ibid., p. 87; Kemalettin Kuzucu, Byk zmir Yangn, [Big zmir Fire], Toplumsal Tarih, n. 62, stanbul,
1999.
182
Baykara, 1974, p. 87.
183
Ibid; Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p.55.
184
Mbahat Ktkolu, zmir ehri Nfusu zerine Baz Tesbitler, in zmir Tarihinden Kesitler, Ed. Mbahat
Ktkolu, (zmir: zmir Byk ehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2000a) 11.
185
Kemal Karpat, Ottoman Population, 1830-1914, Demographic and Social Characteristics, (Wisconsin: The
University of Wisconsin Press, 1982a) 119.
186
Annuaire Oriental, 1883, 1885, 1896-97, 1893-94. Population of zmir, including both females and males
regardless of religion, reached to 423,000 according to 1881-82 Census. Karpat, 1982a, p. 122.
187
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 55.
55

century, 75 % of the British export to the Middle East, including Egypt, was mainly conducted
from zmir. After western Anatolia, the volume of trade of the Arab provinces increased rapidly
by 1914. According to official registers, by the end of the 19th century 46% of the total Ottoman
trade was performed in these four port cities: The total volume of shipping increased from 100
tons to 2200 tons and its value increased 22 fold in zmir; in Beirut, shipping activity increased
from 40 tons to 1700 tons from the years 1800 to 1914, while its value rose to eight-fold between
the years 1820 and 1910: The development of shipping in Trabzon increased from 15 tons to 500
tons, while its value increased seven-folds between 1814 and 1914.
188
Although the wars with
Russia at the beginning of the 19th century distrubed the commercial activity of the Trabzon
port, the Edirne Treaty positively affected the economic activity of the port city in the Black Sea.
Its export and imports rate began to increase considerably in 1830s and its incease was three
folds by the begining of the 20th century. The working of steam ships lines in Black Sea also
cotributed to the economic development of the city, which continued until 1869: the openning of
Suez Canal in 1869, which enabled a short cut connection to India, and the completion of the
railway line between Poti and Tiflis at the end of 1872, which allowed the Russians to direct the
Europe-Iran transit trade route towards Russia, elicited dilution of the economic activity of the
Trabzon port.
189
Therefore, it would be interesting to make a comparative study between zmir
and Trabzon, and other port cities of the Empire that experinced an economic boost between the
Hamidian period and the rule of the Committee of Union and Progress, until 1914.
By the beginning of the 19
th
century western merchant communities had entrenched
themselves very well in the social fabric of zmir along with the Ottoman non-Muslim and
Muslims. However, unexpected Greek massacres in 1770, which were accompanied by the initial
Greek revolt in Morea, large scale Greek causalities in the 1797 Janissary uprising and the Greek

188
alar Keyder, Eyp zveren, Donal Quataert, Port-Cities in the Ottoman Empire, Some Theoretical and
Historical Perspectives, Review, XVI, 4, Fall 1993, pp. 530-531.
189
ner Turgay, Trabzon, in Dou Akdenizde Liman Kentleri [Port Cities of the Eastern Mediterranean] eds.
alar Keyder, Eyp zveren, Donal Quataert, (stanbul: Tarih Vakf Yurt Yaynlar, 1994) 49, 51, 55, 61
56

revolt of 1821-1829, that ended with the declaration of an independent Greek Kingdom in Morea
(1832), would affect the perception of the Ottoman state by the Greek subjects of the empire and
vice versa. These developments shaped the premises of the 1839 imperial reform edict as well.
Before dealing with the impact of the Tanzimat reforms in the communal relations in zmir, it is
useful to understand the socio-economic networks and organizations that allowed people of zmir
to interact in economic and social terms.
57

Chapter 2. Socio-Economic Networks in zmir in the 19
th
Century
Non-Muslims prominent role in the educational, social and cultural activities in the city
prominently began in the early 1830s, when the political atmosphere calmed down after the
turbulent years of the Greek Revolt. The relatively late participation of Muslim in these sectors
in 1870s does not indicate that they did not interact with their Ottoman non-Muslim fellows in
daily life. People of the city regardless of the ethno-religious background were the main actors
for the increasing prosperity of zmir in the earlier centuries. Such a flourishing economy could
not occur in a multi-ethno-religious society where each community lived in isolation. As the last
two chapters of this study demonstrate Ottoman reforms opened new channels for further social
interaction between Muslim and non-Muslim communities. However, before discussing this, it is
important to understand the nature of the Ottoman modernization and how it manifested itself in
zmir.
Since the middle of the 17th century, zmir had some characteristics peculiar to its
economic development that provided for the empires trade with the West while its hinterland
met the agricultural needs of the capital. Throughout this period, a significant European
commercial community remained in zmir that maintained strong ties with other commercial
centers in other parts of the Mediterranean. Until the beginning of the 19
th
century, the French
dominated in trade business in zmir and in its hinterland. However, because of the French
Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, the French had to end their commercial activities in the
Near East.
190
The French Trade in the Mediterranean was depleted so much so that French
merchants in zmir and Istanbul had to flee when France declared itself hostile towards the

190
Reat Kasaba, zmir, Review, v. XVI, n.4, Fall 1993, p.395; Elena Frangakis-Syrett, The Commerce of Smyrna
in the Eighteenth Century, 1700-1820, (Athens: Centre for Asia Minor Studies, 1992) 69.
58

Ottoman Empire.
191
This situation provided an opportunity for Britain to take Frances place in
its trade dealings with the Ottoman Empire.
192
It also provided an opportunity for the local
merchants in Western Anatolia to expand their activities in the foreign trade of the region and
accordingly to strengthen their already powerful position.
193
In addition to trade, the British also
engaged in maritime transportation, piracy, arbitrage, and privatering during the forty years
preceding the end of the Napoleonic wars. As peace was restored in Europe, the economy of
zmir continued to grow, and Britain became its most prominent trade partner.
194
The volume of
trade transactions between Smyrna and Britain indicates that the economy of the city began to
recover in the 1830s, after the troubling years of the Greek revolt (Figure-1).












191
Roger Owen, The Middle East in the World Economy 1800-1914, (London, New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.,
1993) p. 83.
192
Ibid., p. 84. About one third of French trade with the Near East was carried out from the zmir port in the 18th
century. Reat Kasaba, The Ottoman Empire and The World Economy, The Nineteenth Century, (Albany: The State
University of New York, 1988a) 61; France dominated the empires trade with Western Europe in the 18
th
century
and especially became the important trade partner of zmir, ibid., p. 121 and see chapter 5 for zmirs trade with
France between 1700-1820.
193
Kasaba, 1993, pp.395-396.
194
Elena Frangakis-Syrett, The Economic Activities of the Greek Community of zmir in the Second Half of the
Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries, in Ottoman Greeks in the Age of Nationalism, eds. Dimitri Gondicas &
Charles Issawi, (Princeton, New Jersey: The Darwin Press, 1999) 18.
59

RETURN OF BRITISH TRADE, PORT OF SMYRNA, 1835
195

ARRIVED DEPARTED ARRIVED DEPARTED
Vessels Tons Vessels Tons
British 114 16.140 115 16.526
British, Ionian 37 2.272 37 2.272
British Maltese 7 1.510 7 1,510
British, Hanoverian 1 90 1 90
Turkish None None None None
American 27 4,448 27 4.448
Austrian 166 30.980 160 29.246
Dutch 7 970 7 970
French 53 7768 37 5175
Greek 770 44.430 751 42.956
Russian 44 5.118 41 4.638
Sardian 29 5139 27 4992
TOTAL 1.225 118.865 1.210 112.823
Figure-1 British Trade in the zmir Port in 1835
In spite of the negative impact of the Greek revolt on the economic activity of the city and
Mehmed Ali Pashas attempts to control Anatolia in the 1830s, zmir continued to be an
important port city for the Empires trade with Europe. The absence of a strict trade policy, even
though the sultan had the monopoly of certain products, (especially in the silk trade), made zmir
almost a free port during the first half of the 19
th
century.
196

In Europe, due to the industrial revolution, various changes occurred in crop patterns and
technology, which substantially in turn increased production and the need for new markets. The

195
Brant to Board of Trade n.6, 6 February 1836 quoted in Frank Edgar Bailey, British Policy and The Turkish
Reform Movement, (London: Cambridge Harvard University Press, 1942) 99.
196
Bailey, 1942, p. 98.
60

rising urbanization and industrialization of Europe meant a greater need for food, which required
external sources. Hence, the Ottoman Empire became a very suitable market. Accordingly, the
Empire attempted to integrate itself into the changing economic conditions of Europe. The
general change in the economic structure of the Ottoman Empire affected Western Anatolia and
its port city zmir as well. The disintegration of the Ottoman Empire was not a gradual process of
decline as soon as the first contacts with the European economy were made, as conventional
assumptions argue. Instead, western Anatolia was first integrated into the core areas of the world
capitalist economy by the 1870s, mainly, through the extensive network of the non-Muslims,
especially the Ottoman Greeks, the intermediaries in western Anatolia.
197
The 1838 British-
Ottoman Trade Convention, which reduced customs taxes and weakened governmental control,
made foreigners European citizens resident in the Ottoman lands and non-Muslims eager to
take a more active part in the commercial life of zmir. Moreover, non-Muslim Ottomans
benefited from the export boom in the mid-19th century thanks to the influential positions they
already had in commercial networks in western Anatolia at the end of the 18th century.
Furthermore, they had also benefited from the Tanzimat reforms which eased tax burdens,
introduced security of property and made acquiring, transferring and inheriting property easier.
In addition, under the prosperous conditions of the 19th century, non-Muslim intermediaries
enlarged and increased their connections in and outside of western Anatolia, by exploiting their
informal links with their co-religionists in Europe and America, and within the Empire.
198
In the
middle of the 19
th
century, the Crimean war also contributed to the increase of economic vitality
in zmir. After the war, foreign investments, which initiated the construction of railroads to
connect zmir with inner Western Anatolia for the efficient transportation of the products,

197
Kasaba, 1988a; Kasaba, 1993.
198
Kasaba, 1988a, pp. 100-101.
61

increased in zmir.
199
In western Anatolia, roads and communication networks were not adequate
for effective trade. In 1863 the construction of the zmir-Manisa railway route
200
and of the
Aydn-Kasaba one in 1865, made by British investment, led to the increase of volume of trade of
the region.
201
However, railroad companies did not organize the circulation of goods, they only
provided their transportation.
202
Besides, the reconstruction of the quay using largely French
capital between 1868 and 1876 also played an important role in the increase of economic vitality
in the second half of the 19
th
century.
203
In Salonica, too, the construction of greater quays in
1870s was crucial for the citys increasing rate of economic growth. After the completion of this
railway network, the volume of trade began to increase in the port of Salonica in the 1880s.
While the volume of shipping was 900.000 tons in 1870s, it exceeded 1.5 million from the years
1890 to 1907.
204
Nevertheless, railroad networks were not so widespread in western Anatolia in
order to completely replace the traditional means of transport, the camel caravans, which were
always useful to transfer goods to terminals.
205
Having said that, the zmir-Aydn Railway line,
which opened in 1860 and reached 612 km by 1912, the zmir-Kasaba Railway, which opened in
1865 and reached 701 km. by 1912, and the new quay, whose construction was completed in
1868, provided a new type of transportation network for zmir: These railways headed in a
straight (going down vertically) line towards the Aegean sea along side the valleys of the fertile
Big and Small Menderes Rivers and connected zmir to these regions. In other words, the
railways were constructed parallel to the rivers. Therefore, extrovert network transportation was
provided, instead of an introvert one. This extrovert network not only provided transportation of

199
Doan Kuban, Trkiyede Kentsel Koruma, Kent Tarihleri ve Koruma Yntemleri [Urban Protection in Turkey,
The City Histories and Protection Methods], (Istanbul: Tarih Vakf Yurt Yaynlar, 2001) 74.
200
Ibid.
201
Kasaba, 1988a, p.73.
202
Ibid., p. 99.
203
Ibid., Kuban, 2001, p. 74.
204
Basil Gounaris, Salonica [Selanik], in Dou Akdenizde Liman Kentleri [Port Cities of the Eastern
Mediterranean] eds. alar Keyder, Eyp zveren, Donal Quataert, (stanbul: Tarih Vakf Yurt Yaynlar, 1994)
106-108.
205
Ibid., Kasaba, 1988a, pp.73, 99.
62

larger amounts of products to zmir, but also made the influx of more people to the city easier.
206

Ottoman Christians constituted 30% of the total opulation of zmir, and together with foreigners
constituted the dominant population in zmir by 1880s. zmir attracted considerable number of
Greek population from Aegean islands and inner western Anatolia.
207
As a result, the railways
along with the traditional means of transportation carried both product and people to the export-
import center of Western Anatolia.
208
The main reason of the attraction to the port cities was
mainly economic vitality that the construction of the railrowad networks and quays played
crucial role in the development of economic properity. zmir had been pioneer for constructing
railway networks with the hinterlands for other eastern Mediterranean port cities like Salonica
and Beirut. Salonicas commercial growth remarkably began in the middle of the 19th century
through the construction of the railroad system in the 1870s and construction of telegraph line
in 1860s, which provided communication with centers in its hinterland and Europe. Connecting
the city to inner Balkans until to Serbia, the new railroad network provided citys direct
conncetion with Europe. The new line of Manastr, which was the biggest center of Macedonia,
was compeleted by 1894 and the Alexandropolis line was completed in 1896 that connected the
city to stanbul.
209
Beirut provided its connection with Damascus through road linkage in 1860
and with railroad in the middle of 1890s. The railroads directly stretched into the ports in zmir
and Salonica, however in Beirut the terminal ended one mile away from the port area, which led
to additional transportation cost. When the depth of the port of Beiurt and other facilities were
improved by the foreign investment in the 1880s, the economic growth of the city graudally

206
zer Ergen, Salnamelerde zmir in zmir Ticaret Odas 1885-1985 Trkiye Ekonomisinin 100. Yl ve zmir
Ticaret Odas Sempozyumu, (zmir, 1985) 147.
207
Keyder, zveren, Quataert, 1993, p. 538
208
Ergen, 19985, pp. 148-149.
209
Basil Gounaris, Salonica [Selanik], in Dou Akdenizde Liman Kentleri [Port Cities of the Eastern
Mediterranean] eds. alar Keyder, Eyp zveren, Donal Quataert, (stanbul: Tarih Vakf Yurt Yaynlar, 1994)
107.
63

continued.
210
However, before the 1880s, the economic activity of Beirut began to increase in
1830s when steam engine ships began to take take part in the eastern Mediterranean trade.
211

Population growth together with the predominance of Ottoman Christians and foreigners in the
comerical and trade of the cities were two of the common points of the ports cities in the
Ottoman Empire. The population of Salonica and Beirut, like zmir, increased gradually
throughout the 19th century and the Ottoman Christians and foreigners predominatly took part in
the economic activity in zmir and Beirut, and Jews in Salonica. While the population of Beirut
was less than 10,000 in 1800, it reached to around 150,000 in 1914. Similarly, the population of
Salonica tripled between 1800 and 1912, rising to 150,000.
212
Moreover, like in Salonica and
Beirut, in zmir, too, the commercial activity and trade of the city were predominantly conducted
by Ottoman Christians and foreigners.
By demonstrating the interrelatedness sustained between western Anatolia and the core
areas of the capitalist world economy, and the growth in production and trade in the region,
Reat Kasaba argued that the economic development of the Ottoman Empire in the middle of the
19th century was peripheral and that non-Muslim intermediaries were the main brokers and
beneficiaries of the peripheralization of the Empire by 1860s in Western Anatolia.
213
During the
first half of the 19th century, non- Muslim intermediaries could obtain profits mostly from tax
farming, usury, and arbitrage. They were less interested in trade, since they found trade risky and
full of uncertainties due to, basically, monetary anarchy in the empire and the difficulties of
reaching the hinterland in the absence of appropriate transportation means, such as railways.
214

The Tanzimat reforms provided non-Muslims with a greater access to the judicial system, which
in turn enabled them to benefit from the new regulations of land property. Their exclusion from

210
Keyder, zveren, Quataert, 1993, pp. 531-532.
211
Eyp zveren, Beyrut, [Beirut] Dou Akdenizde Liman Kentleri [Port Cities of the Eastern Mediterranean]
eds. alar Keyder, Eyp zveren, Donal Quataert, (stanbul: Tarih Vakf Yurt Yaynlar, 1994) 79.
212
Keyder, zveren, Quataert, 1993, pp. 537-538.
213
Kasaba, 1988a, pp.100-106, 114.
214
Kasaba, 1988b, p. 218.
64

military service was also an advantage to them. Hence, the Greeks (and Armenians) had a larger
share in the commercial agricultural work.
215
The Ottoman reform attempts at re-centralizing the
administration of the provinces led to the transformation of western Anatolia's agriculture in such
a way that non-Muslim Ottomans became influential as tax collectors.
216
The intermediaries
were not in favor of the centralizing Ottoman reforms and foreign investment, especially that of
Britain in the coastline of Western Anatolia.
217
Among the non-Muslim intermediaries, Greek
merchants had particularly extensive shipping and financial interests in Istanbul. At the same
time, they also had powerful relations with the Sublime Port through which they could quickly
curb the renewed authority of the Ottoman Empire in the provinces and step into commercial and
political vacuums left by the submission of local notables to governmental control.
218
Kasaba
mentions that in the long run, the intermediaries succeeded in curbing some of the reform
measures since the Ottoman state could neither reconstruct the local economies nor raise
sufficient revenue to use in its growing administrative tasks.
219
They eventually dominated the
revenue collection and money lending activities in western Anatolia, in the same way as they
coordinated commercial relations in linking other provincial centers to zmir and also investing
in the emerging industrial manufacturing of western Anatolia. This period was an economic
renaissance for the intermediaries, especially for the Greeks, which coincided with a growing
disengagement from the hierarchy of the Ottoman bureaucracy.
220
As this study demonstrates in
the following chapters, this disengagement occurred during the strengthening of the local
character of zmir, which made this economic renaissance possible. And, the reinforcement of

215
Charles Issawi, Introduction, in "Economic Foundations of a Civil Society: Greeks in the Trade of Western
Anatolia, 1840-1876, Ottoman Greeks in the Age of Nationalism, eds. Charles Issawi and Dimitri Gondicas, (The
Darwin Press: Princeton, New Jersey, 1999) 9.
216
Daniel Goffman, zmir from Village to Colonial Port City, in The Ottoman City between East and West,
Aleppo, zmir, and stanbul, eds. Edhem Eldem, Daniel Goffman, & Bruce Masters, (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1st ed. 1999, 2nd ed., 2000) 127.
217
Kasaba, 1988a, p. 85
218
Goffman, 1999, p. 127.
219
Kasaba, 1993, p. 403. Reat Kasaba does not mention how they curbed the reform measures and what kind of
strategies they used against the state.
220
Ibid., p. 402.
65

the local character of zmir, ironically, occurred under the centralizing Ottoman reforms, which
were influential in zmir, too. As it is argued in this study, the Ottoman Empire did not attempt to
reconstruct either the local economy or the social-cultural character of zmir. In contrast, it
preferred to benefit from the status quo in zmir, which constituted a good example of a multi-
cultural society for the Empires modernization program.
Consequently, the economic development, which began in the 17
th
century, transformed
the city into the most important port city for export trade, and the second most important one
after the capital in imports by the 19
th
century. However, the ideological and political conditions
of the 19
th
century were different from earlier centuries, affecting the cities of the Empire in
social-cultural, political and economic terms. How was zmir going to adapt itself to the newly
emerging economic and political organization of the Empire and how would the new conditions
affect communal relations in the city? In other words, how would the multi ethno-religious
society of zmir respond to the Ottoman reforms during the transition period of the Empire? To
be able to answer these questions, we need to see the nature of this society in general economic
and social-cultural terms from the beginning of the 19
th
century until the 1860s.


The role of the Greek and Turkish communities in the economic activity of the city
zmir's hinterland had expanded considerably alongside the network of the non-Muslim
intermediaries up to the last quarter of the 19th century so much so that the city-port had come to
dominate the Ottoman Empire's trade with the West.
221
Commercial centers became the centers
of wealth accumulation, and non-Muslim bankers, merchants, usurers and tax farmers increased
their incomes and social influence at the expense of Muslims.
222
The prevailing scholarly view

221
Frangakis-Syrett, 1999, p.17.
222
Kasaba, 1988a, pp. 100-105.
66

about the role of the non-Muslim and Muslim populations in the economic life of the Ottoman
Empire is that while non-Muslims dealt with commercial activities and trade, Muslims earned
their subsistence from agriculture and governmental works, including the military.
223
Muslims
controlled the countrysides agricultural activity while the Christian (Greek and Armenian) and
Jewish communities monopolized commerce and industry,
224
therefore, non-Muslims formed the
origins of the Ottoman commercial bourgeoisie.
225
As far as zmir is concerned, non-Muslim
intermediaries constituted a genuine bourgeois class in the Ottoman Empire
226
that provided
that integration of the local networks in western Anatolia into the core areas of the world market
economy.
227
In this process, the Greeks, whether as Ottoman citizens, European-protected
subjects, or Greek citizens, dominated all sectors of trade.
228
The Greek community of zmir had
already become prominent in certain sectors of the economy ever since the age of the French
Revolution and the Napoleonic wars.
229
They always successfully competed with other Ottoman
intermediaries and merchants, Muslims and Non-Muslims, inside and outside the Empire, such
as Armenians, Turks, and Jews, as well as the British.
230
The reason for the economic rise of the
Ottoman Greeks was not their cooperation with foreign capitalists and the continuing good
relations between them and foreigners as a comprador business class. On the contrary, non-
Muslim intermediaries were not a comprador business class, but were an economically active
group that developed through obtaining power from controlling the sources outside of the control
of the Ottoman bureaucracy.
231
As for the Greek community of zmir, we already know of their

223
Charles Issawi, The Economic History of Turkey: 1800-1914 (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1980);
Fatma Mge Gek, Rise of Bourgeoisie, Demise of Empire: Ottoman Westernization and Social Change, (New
York: Oxford UP, 1996).
224
Charles Issawi, 1982, pp. 261-285.
225
Gek, 1996.
226
Kasaba, 1993, 406-7; 1986b, p. 124.
227
Kasaba, 1988a, p. 85.
228
Frangakis Syrett, 1999, p.18.
229
Kasaba, 1993, p.395; Frangakis-Syrett, 1999, p.18.
230
Frangakis-Syrett, 1999, p. 18.
231
Reat Kasaba, Was There a Comprador Bourgeoisie in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Western Anatolia, Review,
XL. 2, Spring 1988, pp. 215-228. The intermediaries were not enthusiastic about European (especially Britain)
67

active economic involvement and considerable contribution to the citys economic development
in the 19
th
century.
232
The reasons for the commercial success of the Greeks of zmir can be
summarized as follows: an organization based on tight kinship bonds, linking Greek commercial
houses to each other; a knowledge of the European market provided to the prominent Greek
families through their own international trading networks; the transfer of capital from the Greeks
in Europe to the Greeks in zmir; the close cooperation between zmir Greeks and their
compatriots in western Anatolia and in the capital; an easy acquisition of the European
citizenship through the Greek state; having both Ottoman Greek and Hellenic Greek identities,
the former provided to bypass some regulations, the latter provided them with European
protection in case of commercial conflict; their intimate knowledge of the Anatolian market; the
hire of Greek merchants by Westerns firms, especially by the British, as their agents in zmir
(besides, Greeks also worked as brokers for Western import-export companies)
233
and the
international prominence of the Greek language.
234
Significant growth of trade in zmir in the
second half of the 19
th
century led to development of a non-Muslim middle class, which
absorbed urban western values more quickly.
235
The Greeks flood to the Aegean coastline and
its capital city zmir from Greek state during the Tanzimat reforms. The Greeks of Greece who
migrated to zmir and its surrounding regions were merchants and tradesmen. These merchants
and guildsmen together with the Ottoman Greek subjects and protected Greeks played a crucial

plans to install European financial institutions and set up new production and trading systems in western Anatolia. In
fact, they were occasionally more successful in resisting the European efforts of penetration than they were
contesting Ottoman policies of reorganization, Kasaba, 1993, p. 403.
232
Kasaba, 1988a; Frangakis-Syrett, 1999; Charles Issawi, The Economic History of Turkey: 1800-1914, University
of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1980, The Transformation of the Economic Position of the Millets in the Nineteenth
Century, in Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, eds. B. Lewis & B. Braude, v.I, (New York, London:
Holmes &Meier Publishers, 1982, pp. 261-285, Introduction in Greeks in the Age of Nationalism, eds. Charles
Issawi & Dimitri Gondicas, (Princeton, New Jersey: The Darwin Press, 1999).
233
Frangakis-Syrett, 1999., pp. 19-23.
234
Issawi, 1992, p. 3.
235
Reat Kasaba, Was There a Compradore Bourgeoisie in Mid-Nineteenth Century Western Anatolia?, Review,
XL, 2, Spring, 1988b, pp. 215-228; Themopoulou, n.d., p. 102.
68

role in the formation of middle bourgeoisie class in zmir.
236
However, the Greek community of
zmir was in disorder in terms of administration and organization of the community during the
Tanzimat. Religious clergy of the Orthodox Church, affluent Ottoman Greeks and Greek
nationals were in contest to dominate the organization and educational facilities of the
community. Moreover, Tanzimat regulations disturbed the political and economic power of the
religious clergy in the Orthodox Church, and this led to confusion and disorder within the
community. However, this disorder within the Greek community did not occur only because of
the Tanzimat regulations. Its origins trace back to 1819. A crisis broke out between Ottoman
Greek guildsmen and merchants, and affluent Ottoman Greek merchants and church in 1819.
Strengthening economically, these tradesmen and merchants wanted to participate in the internal
affairs of the community, from administration, education to organization. Affluent Ottoman
Greek merchants did not want to share their political and cultural power over the community
with this class of merchants and guildsmen. Although they could not penetrate into community
organizations (this would happen in 1905), merchants and tradesmen gained more active role in
community organization in the second half of the 19
th
century.
237

As a result, in spite of their internal conflicts and disorder, zmir Greeks dominated
sectors of shipping, mining, commercial agriculture, tax farming, banking and finance, light
industry and the wine, cloth, and liquor trade in zmir by the second decade of the 20
th


236
Anagnastopoulou, 1998, p. 307. The Ottoman Greeks had the right of obtaining Greek citizenship easily by the
Kanlca Agreement (27 May 1855). This solved commercial and diplomatic problems between the Ottoman and
Greek state, however, the identity problems of the Ottoman Greeks continued to exist. Citizenship law (19 July
1869) brought new regulations for this identity problem through interference of the big Western states: Before 1869,
the Ottoman state used to recognize the Otoman Greeks who obtained Greek citizenship as Greek nationals. After
1869, the Otoman Greeks who obtained Greek citizenship through staying in Greece for three years, were not
recognized as Greek citizens by the Ottoman state anymore, but recognized by the Greek state as Greek citizens.
This made them to be subjected to the tax regulations of the Ottoman subjects in the Empire that they opposed to. As
a result, the Ottoman state although did not recognize the Greek cizitensip of the Ottoman Greeks sometimes winked
at them to pay lesser taxes, however sometimes treated them as Ottoman subjects. This made them to search for
ways to persuade the Ottoman state to accept them as foreign nationals. As result, this double identity of the
Ottoman Greeks, on the one hand, made them to increase their wealth, on the other hand, led to confusion and
disorder in their economic relations with the Ottoman state in terms of payment and amount of taxes. Moreover, this
also led tension between the Ottaman and Greek state. Ibid., pp. 310-312.
237
Anagnastopoulou, 198, p. 339.
69

century.
238
Ottoman Greek and protected Greek merchants made up between 40-50% of the
citys merchants at the end of the 19
th
and in the early 20
th
centuries.
239
In sum, their diverse
economic activities and demographic advantage over the other communities in the 19
th
century
aided the Greek community into becoming pioneers in the economic predominance of zmir.
This in return made them leaders in the modernization of social and cultural life of the city.
From the above discussion, we have already seen the zmir Greeks highly active role in
the process of the economic development of zmir. The tax register defter (temett defter) of the
Greek community of zmir gives us more specific information about their professions and
location of their residences in the city in 1840.
240
The Greeks of zmir occupied the highest
number of households compared to other communities and foreigners. The proportion of the
population according to their citizenship in zmir in 1841 was listed as follows: 1. Greek 2.
British 3. French, Austrian, 4. Russian, 5. Genovese-Tuscan, and 6. Napolitan-Sardinian.
241

Among them, the Greeks were the greatest in number but not the richest community in zmir. For
example, their properties amounted to only 19% of the British properties, because the Greeks
were mostly shopkeepers (esnaf), which was not a very profitable occupation.
242
The citizens of
four big states Britain, France, Russia and Austria were employed in brokerage and trade,
which involved high profits.
243

Without understanding the part played by the Muslims in the economic life of the city, it
is not possible to understand the factors that were decisive in shaping the social-cultural and
economic dynamics in zmir and the communal relations between Greeks and Turks, which gave
the city such a special identity compared to other Ottoman cities. However, with the available

238
Frangakis-Syrett, 1999, pp. 19-34.
239
Ibid., 1999, p. 19.
240
linoz Cemaatinin Emlak ve Gelir Defteridir [propert and Income Notebook of Greek (linoz) community],
BOA, zmir Temett Defteri, [zmir Temett Notebook], n. 2104, (TMT), n. 2104, 1256, (1841).
241
Ktkolu, 2000, p. 53.
242
Ibid., p. 45.
243
Ibid.
70

archival material we are, as yet, unable to make a sufficient analysis of the Ottoman Turkish
community of zmir regarding their occupations and involvement in the dynamic economic
activity of the city. In spite of this lack of factual information, it is useful to examine the
activities in which the Muslims of the city took part using whatever existing literature and data
we have at hand.
Travelers writings of zmir support the well known assumption about the Muslims
economic role in the Empire. That is that they were generally occupied in agricultural and
governmental jobs, and also employed in handicrafts and small trade activities, such as being
small shopkeepers in the urban area. They stated that the non-Muslim Ottomans and Europeans
conducted the important commercial and trade activities of the city.
244
When asked to evaluate
the reform measures and their impact on the Turkish community of zmir, an English physician,
who had settled in zmir in 1857, did not omit to refer to the Turks role in the economy of the
city:
It is a fact that while their institutions have improved, their wealth and population have diminished. Many
causes have contributed to this deterioration. The first and great one is that they are not producers. They did
not have diligence, intelligence, and forethought. No Turk is an improving landlord or even a repairing
landlord. When he has money, he spends it on objects of immediate gratification. His most permanent
investment is a timber palace, to last about as long as its builder. His professions are shop-keeping and
service. He cannot engage in foreign commerce, as he speaks no language but his own. No one ever heard
of a Turkish housed business, or of a Turkish banker, or merchant, or manufacturer. If he has lands or
houses, he lives or rent. If he has money, he spends it, or employs it in stocking a shop, in which he can
smoke and gossip all day long. The only considerable enterprise in which he ever engages is the farming
some branch of the public revenue. His great source is service, either that of the private person or of that of
the sultan.
245


244
Ritter von Karl Scherzer, zmir, 1873, (zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl
Dizisi, 2001) 26-27.
245
Nassau William Senior, A Journal Kept in Turkey and Greece in the Autumn of 1857 and The Beginning of 1858,
(London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1859) 210-211.
71


This depiction of the Turks by the English physician constitutes not only a good example
of the typical Eurocentric idea about the characteristics of the Turks, but also supports the
assumption that the Turks generally dealt in agriculture and shope keeping, and occupied
governmental posts. Whereas, we know that the ayan families of zmir held a crucial place in the
commerce of the city with their wide networks in the 18
th
century until the 1820s, when Mahmud
II destroyed the local land notables all across the Empire. Throughout 18
th
century, the Turks
dominated the trade network among Syria, Egypt, Tripoli, and also as landowners, and they were
more independent than the non-Muslim merchants vis--vis the European merchants in zmir.
The Turks, as landowners and producers of cotton and wheat, played a crucial role in the
economy of the city.
246
Some local notable families like the Arabolu, Karaosmanolu,
Sarbeyolu Mustafa, Katipolu were the most important cotton and wheat producers in
western Anatolia and exercised great influence on the region not only as tax collectors, but also
as rulers of the region who held significant administrative and military responsibilities. These
ayan families were in competition with each other, and in favor of close commercial relations
with the Europeans.
247
However, as far as the 19th century zmir is concerned, we do not know
much about the role of the Muslims in the economic life of the city, and their relations with the
non-Muslim Ottoman and European merchants. Regarding the professions of the Muslim
Turkish community of zmir, according to Baykara, Turks preferred to be employed in the civil
service so that the handicrafts, which were in the hands of the Turks in zmir, were taken over by
Greeks, especially, in the 19th century. By the middle of the 19th century, Greeks had dominated
all trade activities in the urban area.
248
Turks in zmir were depicted as being either government
officials or big land owners. The poorer Turks were employed in agricultural jobs, which did not

246
Frangakis Syrett, 1992, p. 115.
247
Ibid., pp. 115-116; Reat Kasaba, 1993, p. 396.
248
Tuncer Baykara, zmir ehri Tarihi [History of City of zmir], (zmir: Ege niversitesi Matbaas, 1974) 63-64.
72

require much skill, for example, picking and sorting.
249
In Kordelio, for instance, generally
Muslims dealt with agriculture, stockbreeding, and artisanship, and a small number of Greeks
dealt with these sectors. zmir Greeks mostly worked in the transportation of agricultural
products throughout the Empire. Generally, Turks were not employed in very profitable
sectors.
250
However, some travelers referred to the Turks as being manufacturers, contrary to this
general idea. Many Turks worked as drum, nail, and lock manufacturers in zmir. They also
worked as porters in the city; the porterage, which required no skill or capital, was almost
completely conducted by Turks, who came from the hinterland to zmir.
251
Turkish women also
played a role to some extent in the economic activity of zmir. They not only made fine silk and
linen textiles for their own use and their houses, but also carried out most of the production of
the delicate and richly embroidered carpets in zmir.
252
The role of conscription should be
considered as a reason for the growing poor class of Turks and their little involvement in the
urban economic sectors in zmir.
253
Notwithstanding the low profile of the Turks in the urban
economy, it is possible to configure that the Muslims of zmir were not excluded from the
economic activity of the city, which also required participation in urban social life. We know
that Muslims began to participate in the social and cultural life of the city more actively after
1880s, when newspapers and journals were published in Ottoman Turkish and more schools
were opened in the city.
254
However, the late development of the social and cultural activities of
the Muslims compared to non-Muslim communities did not prevent them from developing
communication with their Ottoman Greek or other non-Muslim fellows. The long-lasting
property relations, the exchange of loans between them, or Ottoman Greeks appointments of

249
Rolleston George, Report on Smyrna, (London: George & William Spottwoode for Her Stationery Office, 1856)
21-22.
250
G. Pimenopoulos, , , (Kordelio of zmir, Handwriting), (Thessaloniki:
Ekdotiki Seira, 1995) 25.
251
George, 1856, pp., 22-23.
252
Ibid., p. 24.
253
Ibid., p. 20.
254
For the education and printied press of the Muslims of zmir see sections 2.4.1.1 and 2.4.1.2.
73

Muslim friends as their representatives in court in property conflicts, demonstrate the interaction
between the Ottoman Greeks and Turks of zmir in economic terms. Within the period of this
study, the participation of Muslims in the printed press and social activities, seemed to be
restricted. However, this does not indicate their absence in the urban economic sectors. Although
the available primary sources do not support this argument at the moment, we can make a rough
estimate using the population percentages of the Muslims in the center of zmir regarding their
role in urban life of the city during the Tanzimat years. The urban population of zmir was in
total 21,837 according to 1831 census; of these, 9,430 Muslims, 6,637 reaya (Ottoman Greeks),
35 gypsies, 3,530 Jews, and 2,205 were Armenians.
255
We also have demographic figures for the
number of male population in the Turkish neighborhoods in and around the urban area: The total
number of the Muslim male population in the big Muslim districts in the urban center (Camii
Atik, Kefevi, Hatuniye, Kasab Hzr) and in the old zmir districts around the Basmahane region
(which was not in the urban center, but, close to it) was 5,731 in 1844. Of these, 35% (2,005)
were young, 32% (1833) old men, and 6% (343) were military officials.
256
If we accept these
2,005 young males as being part of the working population, not of the military, it is impossible
that most of these 2,005 males were employed in governmental jobs in the city in 1840s. The
number of available administrative posts could not employ (have sufficed for) 2,000 men in
zmir in the absence of the municipality and the provincial units in the 1840s. (After the zmir
municipality was founded in 1868 and after the city became a province in 1866, the
administrative jobs must have increased). Moreover, we should also consider that the flow of
Muslims from Morea and Athens to zmir, during the years of the Greek revolt, may have
created a residence problem in zmir. During these years the number of the Muslim male

255
Kemal Karpat, Ottoman Population 1830-1914, Demographic and Social Characteristics, (Wisconsin:
University of Wisconsin Press, 1982) 111.
256
Mbahat Ktkolu, zmir Nfusu zerine Baz Tesbitler, in zmir Tarihinden Kesitler, (zmir: zmir Byk
ehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, 2000a), 15. A notebook of the Muslim and Jewish population of zmir for the
year of 1844 is available in the archives in Maliye Ceride Kalemi Defterleri section, ML.VRD, n. 832. Ibid., 13, FN.
14.
74

population of zmir increased, although it is not possible to determine the exact number of
Muslim newcomers to zmir.
257
Besides, if we consider the low education levels of Muslims,
which did not allow for taking up of positions in restricted governmental jobs, we might guess
that the male population of zmir participated in the urban economic life as tradesmen and
artisans, and the rest were recruited in the military. Furthermore, thousands of pages of court
registers of zmir between 1845 and 1913 include thousands of descriptions of Muslims
workplaces in the urban area of zmir that indicate a Muslim presence in the economic sectors in
the urban space of the city. The stereotyped idea of the travelers that the Turks in zmir were
either government employees or land owners, and that they rarely took part in trade or commerce
in the city cannot be correct if we consider the estimated number of male Muslims in zmir itself.
High commercial activity brought port cities a vital urban life. It is not possible to contemplate
that the Turks of zmir were not part of this vital commercial and urban life but were just passive
receivers of modernization during the urban transformation of zmir.


Demographic structure in the 19
th
Century
The demographic structure of zmir has been a debated subject among both Turkish and
Greek scholars. Depending mainly on travelers accounts each party has tried to prove either the
Turkish or Hellenic or Greek character of the city. Therefore, such shortcomings of the
present literature and the shortage of accurate demographic data for the given period of this study
(1826-1864), will not lead us to reliable and beneficial results with which to discuss the
demographic character of the city. For that reason, I will have to be content with giving the
general figures of the demographic structure, in order to give an idea of the components of the

257
Nedim pek, Trk-Yunan Nfus Meselesi, [The Issue of Turkish-Greek Population], in XII. Trk Tarih
Kongresi, Ankara 4-8 Ekim 1999 Kongreye sunulan bildiriler, v.3., part I, (Ankara: TTK, 20002) 472, 474-475.
75

general population of the city. B.F. Slaars in his translation of Iconomos history of zmir, which
is based on travelers and some newspapers accounts, gave the following figures for the
population of zmir between 1817 and 1868:
258


Date Source Turkish Greek Armenian Jewish European TOTAL
1812 Tancoigne 60.000 25.000 10.000 5000 6000 106.000
1817 Iconomos - 60.000 - - - 150.000
1836 Ch.Texier 75.000 40.000 10.000 15.000 10.000 150.000
1837 zmir, (newspaper) 58.000 48.000 6.000 8.000 10.000 130.000
1840 Joseph Bargili 45.000 55.000 5.000 13.000 12.000 130.000
1854 Storari - - - - - 132.000
1857 Stephard 85.000 60.000 10.000 20.000 5000 180.000
1861 Imperial (newspaper) 42.000 46.500 7000 14.000 14.287 123.787
1868 B.Slaars 40.000 75.000 12.000 40.000 20.000 187.000
Figure-2 Population of zmir in the 19
th
Century
In addition to the above mentioned statistics of Bargili and Slaars, Solominidis estimated
that in 1844 the population of zmir was 150,000. Of these 65,000 were Greeks, 40,000 Turks,
10,000 Armenians, 10,000 Jews and 25,000 were Europeans.
259
Another source estimates that
zmirs population after the 1841 fire as 100,000.
260
Apart from this, an increase in population
was observed between 1840 and 1857, which could be explained by the establishment of a
quarantine region to prevent the spread of epidemics
261
and the influx of the population from the
Aegean islands and Europe to benefit from the new commercial and financial regulations of the
Tanzimat. Between 1850 and 1870 various figures were mentioned for the total population of the

258
Bonavanter F. Slaars and Kostantin Iconomos, zmir Hakknda Tetkikat, [A Research about zmir], tr. Arapzade
Cevdet, (zmir: Marifet Matbaas, 1932) 332.
259
Hristos Sokratous Solomonidis, , [The Hellenic Character of zmir], (Athens, 1972)
6-7.
260
Baykara, 1974, p. 58, quotes Ler. Marmier and M. s de Massol.
261
Ibid., 1974, p. 58.
76

city. Although, generally, it was said to be around 150,000, some sources noted the population of
city as being 180,000.
262
In the Aydn Yearbook of 1879, the total population of zmir is given as
119,944, and of this number 41,282 were registered as nfus- mukayyede 9,068 as nufs- gayr-
mukayyede, 29,064 as foreigner, and 40,000 as tebaa-i ecnebiyye. In 1884 the total population
of zmir was registered as 146.409.
263
Consequently, neither travelers figures nor tax registers
provide reliable estimated of the population of zmir for the given period of this study. More
reliable figures are not available until the 1881-82 census.
264
Moreover, the Greek revolt of 1821
to some extent affected the demographic structure of the Ottoman Empire in that the Muslims in
Morea and Athens migrated or took refugee in the neighboring cities of the Empire, like Istanbul,
zmir and Aydn. Although it is not possible to determine the exact number of Muslim
newcomers to zmir, we know from the correspondence of the local authorities that by 1838
there was no further room available to accommodate the Muslim migrants in zmir and Kuadas.
Therefore, the zmir and Kuadas guards demanded from the state that the newcomers be settled
in other regions of western Anatolia, like Manisa, Hdavendigar, Mentee and Ktahya.
265
We
can have a look at the origin and number of the Greek protected residents in zmirs temett
notebook of 1840: 716 migrant Greeks were registered, 136 of them were from stendil, 47 from
Andre, 36 from zmir, 28 from Manyot, 25 from Naka, 14 from Chios, 10 from other islands, 6
from Rumeli, 51 of them were from some other places, 331 of them not known, and also 5 Jews
were registered as being protected Greek.
266
Since the data in the temett registers is not
complete, it does not reflect the real number of migrant Greeks, but gives us an idea of where the
Greeks who emigrated to zmir came from. Therefore, by excluding the discussion about the

262
Perthes, Carlise, Fliedner, and Senior showed the population of the city as 180.000 in Baykara, 1974, p. 58.
263
Ergen, 1985, p. 146.
264
Kemal Karpat, Ottoman Population 1830-1914: Demographic and Social Characteristics, (Wisconsin:
University of Wisconsin Press, 1985).
265
pek, pp. 472, 474-475.
266
Mbahat Ktkolu, zmir Temett Saymlar ve Yabanc Tebaa, zmir Tarihinden Kestiler, (zmir: zmir
Byk ehir Belediyesi Yaynlar, 2000) 39.
77

proportions of the population according to ethno-religious criteria, I approach the multi-ethno-
religious metropole of western Anatolia as an organic whole, with a population of almost
150,000 by the 1860s. Discussing the question of how these multi-ethno-religious communities
of zmir shared urban space in the city might be useful to understand the relations among these
communities.


Spatial organization of the city
Ottoman society was seen generally as an entity that was divided by religious and ethnic
affiliation. The reason for this perception is the organization of the districts of the Ottoman cities
in the registers according to religious and ethnic affiliation. The division of urban space into
districts according to religion and ethnicity was a common feature of Islamic cities.
267
Unlike
Ottoman cities, in Islamic cities, in order to provide security, huge walls or gates divided
neighborhoods from each other.
268
In Islamic Arab cities, neighborhoods were places where the
hostilities among the communities or power struggles of tribes against the state became
explicit.
269
This physical division of neighborhoods did not exist in Anatolian cities, since there
was no strict segregation among different ethnic and religious communities. Besides, the strength
of the center, which could provide security and order in Anatolia, prevented the formation of
other local defensive systems.
270
I agree with those who argue that there was no typical Islamic
city, but different types of cities in the Near and Middle Eastern region. In some cities, the
religious character was more pronounced than the secular one, in some others commerce was

267
zer Ergen, Osmanl Klasik Dnemi Kent Tarihiliine Katk, 16.yyda Ankara ve Konya, [A Contribution to
the Urban History, Ankara and Konya in the 16
th
century], (Ankara: Ankara Enstits Vakf Yaynlar, 1995) 49.
268
Ibid.
269
Stefan Yerasimos, Tanzimatn Kent Reformlar zerine, [About Urbanization Reforms of the Tanzimat], in
Modernleme Srecinde Osmanl Kentleri, [Ottoman Cities during the Process of Modernization), eds. Paul
Dumont, Franois Georgeon, (Ankara: Tarih Vakf Yurt Yaynlar, 1
st
ed, 1996, 2
nd
ed. 1999) 14-15.
270
Ergen, 1995, p. 51.
78

more important than administration, and some neighborhoods were centered around markets and
town squares. Some dominant characteristics of cities do not imply that typical Islamic, Arab or
Ottoman cities existed.
271
This approach rejects the definition of an Arab or European city as a
norm based on which one can analyze urban civilizations. However, as Stefan Yerasimos
underlined we should consider Islamic law and its implications on urban organization. Since
Islamic law organizes individuals behaviors and their relations with the community, this has
some consequences over a citys organization.
272
Therefore, to some extent we should consider
the concept of the Islamic city, to be able to understand its effects on the urban fabric of
Ottoman cities, without neglecting the common features of Anatolian and Mediterranean cities.
From travelers' descriptions and tax register notebooks of zmir, we understand that
spatial separation existed in the city's urban organization.
273
There were clearly defined
boundaries among the Turkish, Greek, Armenian, (Appendix-2 Picture 01-03), Jewish, and Frank
neighborhoods. The city was also divided by obvious sanitary differences. All travelers noted the
cleanliness, modernity and the peaceful environment of the Frank neighborhood, in which mostly
European Christians used to live at the beginning of the 19
th
century, and the general dirtiness of
zmir with its narrow streets, especially those in the Muslim and Jewish neighborhoods.
274

Caravan Bridge Road (Kervanlar Kprs,Appendix-2 Picture 04) was the main entrance to
zmir from inner western Anatolia. The bridge comprised the two banks of the Meles River,

271
Inroduction in Edhem Eldem, Daniel Goffman, and Bruce Masters, The Ottoman City between East and West,
Aleppo, zmir, and Istanbul, (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000) 15.
272
Yerasimos, 1999, p.10.
273
Luigi Storari, Pianta Della Citta di Smirne 1854-1856.
274
Idda Pfeiffer, "Ida Pfeiffer'in zmiri: Mays 1842, [zmir of Oda Pfeiffer] in lhan Pnar, Haclar, Seyyahlar,
Misyonerler ve zmir: Yabanclarn Gzyle Osmanl Dneminde zmir, 1608-1918, [Pilgrims, Travellers and
Missionaries and zmir: zmir from the eyes of foreigners, 1608-1918], (zmir: zmir Bykehir Belediyesi Kent
Kitapl Yaynlar, 2001) 201-202; Julius Heinrich Petermann, "Julius Heinrich Petermann'n zmiri: Temmuz
1852," [zmir of Julius Heinrich Petermann: July 1852] in ibid., p. 220; Mortiz Busch, " Mortiz Busch'un zmiri:
1859," [zmir of Mortiz Busch: 1859] in ibid, pp. 228-230; Hermann Scherer, "Herman Scherer'in zmiri: 1860,"
[zmir of Hermann Scherer: 1860] in ibid., pp. 234-236; Karl Von Haller, " Karl Von Haller'n zmiri: 1864," [zmir
of Karl Von Haller] in ibid., pp. 251-254.
79

where Homer had been born according to tradition.
275
Two major roads, Megalon Travernon and
Rodon, lead to the Caravan Bridge. They began vertically from Frank Street. The Armenian
district was in the south and to the east the Greek districts of Yaladia, Agia Fotini and Agios
Georgios (Appendix-2 Picture 05-06) with the cathedral of Agios Stephanos.
276
The Greek
quarters were concentrated in the north of the city and behind the Frank quarter, (Appendix-2
Picture 07) which was situated on the shore. The four biggest residential quarters of the Muslims
Camii Atik, Kefevi, Hatuniye and Kasab Hzr which were established after 16
th
century,
were located on the hillside of the Kadifekale (Appendix-2 Picture 08). Other Turkish
neighborhoods, which existed since 16
th
century, were in the Basmahane region.
277
Next to the
Muslim quarters on the slopes of Kadifekale, lay the Jewish neighborhoods which extended
down to the plain. The Armenian quarter lay between the Jewish neighborhood and the Caravan
Bridge Road (Kervanlar Kprs). That is to say, the residential districts of the Turks
surrounded the non-Muslim quarters in a large semi-circle. In the earlier periods many churches
were built in the city, in spite of the restrictions according to Islamic rule, and many consuls had
built illegal private docks behind their houses apparently for pleasure boating, but in reality to
conduct contraband trade.
278
Hence, the early growth of the city in the earlier centuries prevented
the development of a strong central rule in zmir in which urban space developed chaotically
under the coexistence of religious, commercial and private buildings of Christianity, Islam and
Judaism.
279
However, urban planning was initiated in zmir as a result of the three destructive
fires of the 19
th
century 1834, 1841, and 1845 during the age of the Ottoman reforms.
280

Within a decade almost all residential quarters and bazaars of the city had been burned and

275
Georgios A. Yiannakopoulos, Smyrna before the Disaster, in Smyrna, Metropolis of the Asia Minor Greeks,
(Alimos: Ephesus Publishing, n.d.), 71; Baykara, 1974, pp. 43-44.
276
Yiannakopoulos, n.d. p. 72.
277
Ktkolu, 2000a, p. 15.
278
Goffman, 2000, p. 104.
279
Ibid.
280
Kemalettin Kuzucu, 1845 zmir Yangn, [The 1845 Fire in zmir], in Toplumsal Tarih, n. 62, 1999, p. 23.
80

thousands of people had to live in the streets for a while. The reasons for such destructive fires
were that the houses were made of timber and were adjacent to each other, the narrow streets,
and the inefficiency of the fire department of the city. After this date, a remarkable change began
to occur in the urban planning of zmir. The 1845 fire constituted a turning point in the urban
history of the city in that the new regulation in the capital applied in zmir too: houses were to be
built with mud bricks, a construction of stone or brick walls between every three or four houses
would have to be built and the streets were to be enlarged.
281

Hence, a new understanding of urban planning and transportation of the Tanzimat age
began was inaugurated first in Istanbul and zmir, which suffered the most from destructive fires.
Regulations in the urban area indicated that the Ottomans were not behind in modern urban
planning considerations. Ottoman planning strategies did not overlook long term strategies. In
1849, 1863, and 1882 important regulations were made through the "building regulation" (ebniye
nizamnamesi) in 1848-1849, that was relevant only to stanbul, later, in 1863 the "Roads and
Buildings Regulations" (Turuk ve Ebniye Nizamnamesi) and the "Law of Buildings" (Ebniye
Kanunu) in 1882 that was issued for all cities.
282
However, they were aware of the fact that they
also needed short-term strategies for dealing with immediate problems, such as fires, which
required immediate action and new planning. For the case of zmir, we see that even before the
official regulations of the center in 1849, 1863 and 1882, the local administration attempted to
take necessary precautions regarding the city plan after the big destructive fire of 1845. After this
big flame, the provincial council of zmir issued an official report, (mazbata) submitting the
important points in preventing damage caused by fires and stressed the reasons for such

281
Ibid., 22-23.
282
lhan Tekeli, "19. Yzylda stanbul Metropol Alannn Dnm," [Transformation of the Metropole Area of
Istanbul], in Modernleme Sreci'nde Osmanl Kentleri, [Ottoman Cities during the Process of Modernization), eds.
Paul Domont, Franois Georgeon, (Tarih Vakf Yurt Yaynlar, 2nd. ed., 1999) 24. The cities of Kavala, Iannina,
Volos, and Salonica were reconstructed according to these new regulations. For the urban transformation of the
Northern cities of Greece under the Ottoman rule see Alexandra Yerolympos, "Tanzimat Dnemi'nde Kuzey
Yunanistan'da ehircilik ve Modernleme," [Urbanization and Modernization in Northern Greece in the Tanzimat]
in Modernleme Sreci'nde Osmanl Kentleri, [Ottoman Cities During The Process of Modernization] eds. Paul
Domont, Franois Georgeon, (Tarih Vakf Yurt Yaynlar, 2nd. ed., 1999) 31-60.
81

destructiveness, i.e., the narrow streets, the closeness of the houses, etc.
283
Following the big fire,
the director of ebniye-yi hassa (imperial buildings) and a master builder came to zmir in 1845
from the capital to run the new city planning project. The first ever maps for the development
plan were drawn in this period. The maps of the burned areas were drawn and the affluent
families of the city were urged to begin constructing their new houses immediately according to
the new regulations and loans were given to the poor to begin construction. It was also decided
that the avenues whose width was between 1,5 and 4 meters would become 6 meters, and the
width of the streets would become 4 meters. In other words, the burned down areas became part
of the pilot project in the application of the new urban plan.
284
According to the new planning
regulations, most of the residents had to renounce 9% of their lands. Some resisted renouncing
this amount from their lands, but their opposition was ignored. The Armenian community
accepted to renounce this amount happily for the sake of the new urban plan it sent a thanking
petition to the capital for the new urban plan, which was designated to save the lives and houses
of all the communities-
285
Archival evidence reveals that the provincial council of zmir worked
actively
286
not only to implement the new urban planning project but also to overcome
difficulties caused by disputes among people. For example, a mazbata of the provincial council
of zmir dating back to 1846 indicates how a land dispute between two Armenians was resolved
during the reconstruction of the Armenian neighborhood.
287
After the big fire of 1845, the
Armenian district was constructed again as part of the new urban project and became the first
neighborhood of the city where conscious planning was completely applied. As a result of the

283
BAO, A.MKT., 57/67, 1262.Z.29 (18 October 1845). Mazbata of zmir council defined necessary precautions to
prevent big flames, which originated from narrow streets and adhering houses and continued for seventeen hours.
(The date of the mazbata was not written in the document, but predicted according to the year of the big fire).
284
Kuzucu, 1999, pp. 23-24.
285
Ibid., p. 24.
286
See section 4.4 and 4.4.1.
287
BOA, A.MKT, 82/21, 1263.6.6, zmir Meclis Mazbatas.
82

new planning of the city after 1845, zmir had lost its Turkish-Islamic city characteristics and
became a more European looking city.
288

The most famous thoroughfare of zmir was Frank Street or the Frank Quarter, where
foreign consulates, houses and shops of the European merchants were situated. However, as its
name implies, not only Europeans, but also Ottoman Greeks, Armenians, Jews and Muslims
owned shops in this street.
289
Although Frank Street was mostly occupied by European
merchants until the late 18
th
century, by the early 19
th
century Armenians, Greeks and Jews set
up shops on it since more recent regulations abolished restrictions about location and
residences.
290
Therefore, by the middle of the 19
th
century strict physical separation of the
quarters according to ethnic and religious lines did not exist. What constituted the proper Frank
quarter of the earlier period had changed. The street kept the name Frank Street, in which
Greeks and Europeans also owned shops and its residential area was also occupied by a mixed
population.
291
Not only in the center, like in the Frank Quarter, but in some other districts of
zmir, different community members also owned shops in the same bazaar. For example, in
Bornova, the bazaar was divided into the Turkish and the Greek parts. Both bazaars had their
own coffee houses, shopkeepers, butchers, hairdressers, grocers, bakeries, and blacksmiths.
292
In
the Turkish part of the bazaar there was the grocery store of Vasilis Andonopulos and in front of
it the barbershop of Petros father, in which a watch bench (saati tezgah) belonging to Yorgos
Stefano existed. In the Greek part, some Turks and a couple of Jews also had shops. This
differentiation did not mean that the Greeks did not shop from the Turks or the vice a versa.
293
In
the agora of Bornova three khans existed. In the Turkish Khan there was a common steelyard,

288
Kuzucu, 1999, pp. 23-24.
289
Traveler Charles Reynaud talked about the variety of goods which were sold by Jews, Europeans, and Muslims,
quoted in Yaranga, 2002, p. 74; Sibel Zandi Sayek, Public Space and Urban Citizens, Ottoman zmir in the
Remaking, 1840-1890, unpublished dissertation, (Berkeley: University of California, 2001a) 64.
290
Sayek, 2001a, p. 49.
291
Ibid.
292
Nikos Kararas, , , [Bornova, History and Memoirs] (Athens: Stefanos Tzaneti,
1955) 75-76.
293
Ibid., p. 76.
83

which every one came to use. The rooms in the Turkish khan were rented out for the agricultural
workers who came to zmir from other towns. In the middle of the Agora, a Greek, Nikolaki
Gavurkuli owned a khan.
294
On the left side of the agora Rt Bey had baths, which were
reserved five days for women and two days for men. Fridays were for the Ottoman Muslims and
Sundays for the Ottoman non-Muslims.
295
In addition to Frank Street, two other important streets
of the city were rue Parallele (ikinci kordon), which came into existence after the quay, and
Rhtm Avenue, which existed after the construction of quay.
296
The quay was divided into two
sections: One was the commercial zone: from the passport bureau (Koumerkaki) at the inner
harbor down to the barracks, in which platforms, shipping, real estate offices, and agencies were
to be found. The other section was the center of social and cultural life with luxury houses,
public shops, coffee shops, hotels, theatres (the Theatre of Smyrna), banks (the Banks of
Anatolia) and clubs. This section extended from the customs building to the baths at Pounta
(Pasaport).
297
Other important streets where commercial activity and European shops could be
found were the Street of Roses, called Rue de Roses, stretching from north to south and joining
the quay to the bazaar, Madamachan Street, Hac Staman Street of the Armenian quarter, and
Elmas and Saint Demetler streets of Saint Nicolas districts.
298
Kordelia (Karyaka), ili (ili),
Bornova, Buca (Bovios), Seydiky, Bozyaka, Haclar (Inoude), Pnarba, Kokluca
(Coryphacion, Opean) were some well known suburbs, and Urla (Clazomene), Karaburun, and

294
Ibid.
295
Ibid., p. 77.
296
nar Atay, Tarih inde zmir, [zmir in History] (zmir: n.p.,1978) 32. By 1834 the old port of zmir almost was
plated by constructions, which it almost disappeared. In the English maps, the old port of the city was seen only as a
narrow channel. The reconstruction of the port and quay carried out between 1868 and 1872. Kuban, 2001, p. 74.
However, the most influential factor that led to a serious change in the urban planning of zmir happened after the
widening of the new port and quay in 1890s. The earthworks in the harbor became the new center of social life.
Europe and non-Muslim Ottomans leaving Frank neighborhood began to move to the quay regions and suburbs of
Buca and Bornova, which became residential districts of middle class people in zmir. Emilia Themopoulou, The
Urbanization of an Asia Minor City, the example of Smyrna, in Smyrna, Metropolis of the Asia Minor Greeks,
(Alimos: Ephesus Publishing, n.d.) 106.
297
Georgios A. Yiannakopoulos, Smyrna before the Disaster, in Smyrna, Metropolis of the Asia Minor Greeks,
(Alimos: Ephesus Publishing, n.d.) 67-68.
298
Atay, 1978, pp. 30-31.
84

eme, Alaat, Kuadas, irince, Ske, Aksaray (Aksarion) were some distant districts zmir.
(see Appendix-1).
Travelers and historians with nationalist tendencies generally do not acknowledge
coexistence and ethno-religious diversity in zmir as a harmonious unity. The ethnically and
religiously diverse communities of zmir were not perceived as the natural elements that made up
the city. Because of the spatial separation in the city, travelers, generally, made false judgments
and wrote about a non-existence of social interaction among the members of different
communities of zmir. However, some scholarly studies demonstrate that the spatial distinction
in the Ottoman cities was not necessarily a sign of separate living as it was argued by
Eurocentric approaches.
299
As Chapter 4 of this study suggests, people might have lived in their
own neighborhoods in zmir, but this did not mean that they did not interact. Quarters were
subdivided into smaller units, which were named after churches, mosques or synagogues. For
example, in the middle of the Muslim quarters, small Greek neighborhoods existed, like Apano
Mahalle, which was centered around the Greek Orthodox Church of St. John, and the Panagia
Mahalle, which was located around the church of St. Mary.
300
Many Jewish families lived in the
Muslim neighborhoods, too.
301
However, in spite of the official registers of the neighborhoods
according to religious and ethnic affiliation, court registers demonstrate that in practice people of
different religions and ethnicities used to live in the same neighborhoods. This shows that the
neighborhoods in zmir were not homogeneous as might have been imagined. For example,

299
zer Ergen, Osmanl Klasik Dnemi Kent Tarihiliine Katk, 16.yyda Ankara ve Konya, [A Contribution to
the Urban History, Ankara and Konya in the 16
th
century], (Ankara: Ankara Enstits Vakf Yaynlar, 1995); Sibel
Zandi Sayek, Public Space and Urban Citizens, Ottoman zmir in the Remaking, 1840-1890, (Berkeley: University
of California, 2001), Orchestrating Difference, Performing Identity: Urban Space and Public Rituals in Nineteenth
Century zmir, in Hybrid Urbanism: On the identity discourse and the built environment, ed. Nezar Al Sayyad,
(Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2001); Suraiya Faroqhi, Men of Modest Substance: House Owners and House Property in
Seventeenth Century Ankara and Kayseri (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977).
300
Rolleston, 1856, p. 12.
301
Ktkolu, 2000a, pp. 13, 16-17. Ktkolu based her study of the population of zmir on the notebook found in
the Ottoman Archives, in the Maliye Ceride Kalemi section. This notebook, which includes the registers of Muslims
and Jews of the city in the 19
th
century, is an important source for the demographic structure of zmir, since the
population notebooks are not yet open to research.
85

Andoryaki, who resided in the Kasab Hzr district, a Muslim neighborhood, owned a house in
this neighborhood and in defining the location of his house in court mentioned that it was
registered at number thirty three of the Koltuklar street. One side of his house was bounded by
Sipahi Bazirgan, the other side with the house of Angili, the third side was adjacent to the
coffeehouse of Andol, and the fourth side faced the public road (tarik-i amm).
302
In the same
neighborhood, a non-Muslim woman defined her property in eri court as follows, the property
that I own through inheritance is registered in the property notebook (emlak defteri) as number
twenty one house in Elma street, which is bounded by butcher Yorgi, the house of Marnikola on
the other, the land of Yorgi from Foa on the other, and the fourth side faces the public
road
303
From another non-Muslim womans description of the borders of her property in the
same neighborhood we learn that her house, which was registered in the property notebook in
Nihadiye Street with number two and three, bordered with the head grocery (bakkalba) Dimitri,
the house of Barakl, and stinaki, and the other side faced the public road.
304
In another register
we learn that different Greek women rented the land of a Muslim vakf to each other in the Kasab
Hzr neighborhood for more than twenty five years.
305
In 1858, a representative of a Muslim
woman Asiye, mentioned in the court that her land in the Hatuniye neighborhood, another
Muslim district, bordered with the place of tanner brahim, a Jewish house (yehudhane), the land

302
Medine-yi zmirde Kassan Hzr Mahallesinde sakin bakkal olu Andoryaki veled-i Angilimlk ve hakkm
olan mahalle-yi mezburede koltuklar sokanda kain emlak defterinde otuz numeroda mukayyed bir taraf Sipai
Bazirgan angili menzili ve bir taraf Mihaliki baesi ve bir taraf Andol kahvesi ve taraf- rabi tarik-i amm ile
mahdud, zmir eriyye Sicilleri (from know S), no:9, p.1, 6 Zil-hicce 1273 (28 July 1856).
303
Medineyi zmirde Kasab Hzr MahallesindeHarolanbo zevcesi Marikorsen ve eran yedimizde mlk
bilmnasafa hakkmz olan mahelle-yi mezburede Elma sokanda kain, defter-I emlakda yigirmi bir numeroda
mukayyed bir taraf Kasab Yorgi menzili ve bir taraf Marnikola menzili ve bir tarafo Foal Yorgi arsas ve taraf-
rabi ile mahdud, sicil, n.12, p. 1, 10 Rebil-evvel 1274 (29 October 1857).
304
Medine-yi zmirde Kasab Hzr Mahallesinde mtemekkin Adlina Atena namat nasraniyeler.akd- atil-
beyan tasdikde Pavlo veled-i Manol muvacehesinde krar- tam ve takrir-i kelam idbyedimde mlk ve haklarm
olub mahelle-yi mezburda Nihadiye sokanda vak ve emlak defterinde ik ve numeroda mukayyed bir taraf
bakkal ba Dimitri Barakl menzilleri ve bir taraf stilanaki menzili ve bir taraf zikr-i ati malik olduunu arsa-y
haliye ve bir taraf tarik-i amm ile mahdud 8 evval 1270 (5 Zilkade 1853), S, n.2., p.1.
305
S, n. 4., p. 28, 17 evval 1275 (23 April 1858).
86

of a vakf and the public road.
306
In another Muslim quarter, Kefeli Mahallesi, Ottoman Greek
Yako had a house, which bordered with the house of translator Uramacu, the two other sides of
his house were adjacent to Hac Yanako and the forth side faced public road.
307
These examples
can be easily amplified with thousands of court registers of zmir, which are available for the
years after 1845. Furthermore, in the Temett Notebook of the Greek community of zmir (linoz
Cemaati, 1841) we can see in which neighborhoods zmir Greeks had workshops and how
many:
308





306
zmirde Hatuniye Mahallesinde sakine Asiye binti Elhac mehmed nam hatunyedinde mlk ve hakkm olan
mahalle-yi mezburede vaki etraf- erbaadan bir taraf debba elhac brahim menzili ve bir taraf vakf- yehudahane
ve bir taraf arsa ve taraf- rabiI tarik-i has ile mahsus, S, no:2., p. 1, 15 evval 1269 (22 July 1852).
307
Yako veled-i Santo tarafndan bey-i atil-zikri tasdike vekili Mehmed Efendi muvacehesinde bil
vekale krar- tam ve takrir-i kelam idb mahelle-yi mezburede (Kefeli mahallesi) kain bir taraf tercman Uramacu
menzili ve tarafeyni Hac Yanako menzili --- ve bir taraf tarik-i amm ile mahdud bir bab menzilin, 29 evval
1265 (17 August 1848). S, n.1, p. 32. The title hac were used by people of book who went to Jerusalem. Its
usage also implied having of a high status in society. [Encyclopaedic Dictionary] v.12,
(Athens, Eleftheroudakis, 1929) 854; Georgios Babiniotis, [Dictionary of
Modern Greek Language], 2nd. Ed. (Athens, Kentro Leksikologias, 2002) 1942. 1942.
308
In the temett notebook of the Greek community, the Greeks were registered according to their place of origin,
like stendilli, Adal, Moral, Andreli, Manyotlu, Nakal, Rumelili, Sakzl, Yahudi and zmirli, with their
apprentices, servants or brothers. This table, regardless of their place of origin and population, indicates their
distribution in different neighborhoods in zmir. The total number of the registered working male zmir Greeks in
urban area is around 700. BOA, zmir Temett Defteri, [zmir Temett Notebook], n. 2104,, (TMT) 2104, 1256,
(1840).
87


Figure -3 Distribution of zmir Greeks Units According to Quarters and Districts
Quarters/ Mahalles Number of Ilinoz Units
Frank Quarter, 5
th
District (Gl Mahallesi) 93
Frank Quarter, Ada District 20
Frank Quarter, 8
th
District, Haci Kiranti Mahallesi 19
Frank Quarter, 4
th
Mahalle 76
Kasab Hzr Mahallesi, Petamalcilar District 14
Mimar Haci Istefani (Aya Dimitri Kenisas Kurbunda) 10
Kasab Hzr Mahallesi, Haci Kuranti Mahallesi 22
Kasab Hzr Mahallesi, Yeni Mahalle (Around Stma Pnar) 18
Kasab Hzr Mahallesi, Ayazma Mahallesi (Around Agia Dimitri) 5
Kasab Hzr Mahallesi, Agia Anton & anakba Streets 11
Kasab Hzr Mahallesi, (ngiliz Kona pigahndan duze yodan nam
mahalle varncaya dek)
152
Pazaryeri Mahallesi 1 (Jewish belong to Greek community)
Kefe Mahallesi 1
Efrenc Mahallesi, 2
nd
District 4
Efrenc Mahallesi, 3
rd
District 7
Kprlolu Bedestan Kapusu haricinde canib-i imalde vak 1.
numero ile mukayyed adada. (Greeks from Istendil)
39
Takil/ Takula Mahallesi -
Cami-i Atik Mahallesi 1 (Jewish belong to Greek community)
Kfus Mahallesi 1 (Jewish belong to Greek community)
Galazu Mahallesi 2
Mimarolu Mahallesi 12
Hatuniye Mahallesi 1(Jewish belong to Greek community)
88

As the above table indicates zmir Greeks settled in both Muslim quarters, Kasab Hzr,
Cami-i Atik, Hatuniye, and the Frank quarter, in which the Ottoman Muslims and European
residents were supposed to live separately as the names of the districts imply. Moreover, we also
know that work places and shops in zmir were organized according to the type of artisanship or
profession, not according to ethno-religious lines. The names of the streets originated according
to the profession conducted in that street, like stonecutters (Talar), steelyard makers
(kantarclar), coppersmiths (bakrclar), maker of waistcloths (petamalclar), chest makers
(sandklar), candy makers (ekerciler), and tinsmith (tenekeciler), or the dye house street
(Boyahane Soka) and tannery street (Tabakhane Soka).
309
This proves that people with
different professions and religious affiliation shared common districts in zmir. This
demonstrates that the communities of zmir lived in unity, rather than as separate units.
Political Philosophers, like Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Marx and Weber, described
Ottoman rule as having an arbitrary and despotic character, which did not permit the
development of any autonomous, unique character or identity in Ottoman Cities.
310
This
enduring representation was not appropriate for zmir, as it is not suitable for the other Ottoman
cities in the Balkans, Arab lands and Western Anatolia. Contrary to conventional opinion,
Ottoman rule could not establish strict central control although in theory it attempted to do so
but constructed a decentralized political order with a blend of Islamic, imperial, local laws and
provincial officials.
311
This decentralization of power manifested itself in zmirs urban
organization and social relations among the communities. As the previous examples
demonstrate, the houses and work places of people with different religions co-existed in the
different neighborhoods whether the name of the district was Frank, Greek, Armenian or
Muslim.

309
Atay, 1978, p. 30.
310
Eldem, Goffman & Masters, 2000, p. 11.
311
Ibid.
89


Social and Cultural Life in the 19
th
century:
The role of the communities in the social-cultural life of the city
Printing Presses
In accordance with the multi-cultural characteristics of the city, various newspapers,
journals, theatres, celebrations, rituals, social and sports clubs, coffee houses, taverns, beerhouses
and outdoor cafes existed in zmir. The first printing press of zmir belonged to the Jewish
community. Around 1646, or at an earlier date the Jews of zmir printed the first books of the
city in Spanish with their own printing press.
312
The newspapers of La Buena Esperansa,
published in 1842 and Chaare Mizrah (The Gate of the East), in 1846
313
were the first Jewish
newspapers of zmir.
314
Armenians also founded their printing press in 1762 and published the
first book of zmir, Yesnig.
315
The first Armenian newspaper, stemaran Bidani Kidelyats was
published in 1839.
316
The first Greek newspaper of the city was Filos Ton Neon (Friend of the
youth) which was published in September 1831 and which ceased to be printed within three
months, on 28 December 1831.
317
Another newspaper that followed Filos ton Neon was Astir en
ti Anatoli (the Star of Anatolia), which was published in both Greek and English by a
missionar.
318
In 1833, The Star of Anatolia became an Anglo-Greek newspaper, which was titled
the star of Anatolia-Filos ton neon. This Anglo-Greek newspaper became only English after

312
Baykara, 1974, p.107; Erkan Sere, zmirde Kitap, Kitaplk, 1839-1928, Kitaplar, Kitapclar, Matbaalar ve
Ktphaneler [Book and Bookselling in zmir, Books, Bookstores, Printing Presses and Libraries], (zmir: Akademi,
1996) 2.
313
Henri Naum, zmir Yahudileri, [Juifs de Smyrne, XIX.e-Xxe sicle], tr. Estreya Seval Vali, (stanbul : letiim
Yaynlar., 2000) 157.
314
Nesim Benbanaste, rneklerle Trk Musevi Basnnn Tarihesi, [Through Examples the History of the Press of
the Jews of Turkey], (stanbul: Smbl Basmevi, 1988) 61. The Jewish newspapers flourished in the following
years. For the list of these newspapers see ibid., pp. 61-62; Sere, 1996, p.13.
315
Sere, 1996, pp. 12-13.
316
Ibid., p. 13.
317
Hristos Sokratous Solomonidis, (1821-1922), [ Journalism in zmir, (1821-1922],
(Athens, 1959) 10-11; Ali Arslan, Osmanldan Cumhuriyete Rum Basn, [Greek Press from Ottoman to Republic],
(stanbul:Truva Yaynlar, 2005) 77-78.
318
Ibid., p. 14; Arslan, 2005, p. 78.
90

1836 with the title of The Star in the East-New Series.
319
Minimosini (1833-13 September
1835), and Observer of Ionia (1837-1840) were among the first published Greek newspapers
of zmir.
320
The most long lasting Greek newspaper in zmir was Amaltheia (1838-1922).
321

Apart from the publications of the leading three Ottoman non-Muslim communities of the
Empire, Bulgarians also were effective in the press. They had their own printing press in which
they published a Bulgarian newspaper, Ljuboslewija, and various pamphlets.
322
The first French
newspaper of the city, Le Spectateur Oriental, was published on 24 March 1821 by a French
citizen called Charles Tricon. In 1823, Tricon published Le Smyrnen, which was closed down
by the Porte. Tricon was influenced by the premises of the French Revolution and supported the
Greek revolt in both newspapers since he saw it as a struggle for independence. Therefore, the
French consulate as a result of the Portes complaints banned both newspapers.
323
After the ban
of Le Smyrnen, he published Spectateur Oriental in 1826, and gave up supporting the Greek
revolt. Instead, the newspaper began to emphasize the worsening condition of the tradesmen and
merchants in zmir, whose economic activities were badly affected by the revolt. Moreover, he
strictly criticized Englands support of the Greek revolt.
324
Alexandre Blacque, whose father had
fallen into conflict with the French political powers after the French Revolution, and fled to
zmir in 1795, began to publish Courrier de Smyrne between 1828 and 1831. Because of his
political ideas he became a trusted journalist for the Porte. In 1831, Blacque was appointed by
the Porte to publish the first official newspaper of the empire, takvim-i vakayi in Istanbul in
French entitled Moniteur Ottoman.
325
He was a strong defender of the original aims of the

319
Solomonidis, 1959, pp.14-15.
320
Ibid., pp. 15, 22, 24; Arslan, 2005, p. 79.
321
Solomonidis, 1959, p. 26.
322
Sere, 1996, p.13.
323
Orhan Kololu, lk zmirli Gazeteciden zmir Haberleri, [News from the First Smyrnean Journalist of Smyrna],
in Son Yzylda zmir ve Bat Anadolu [zmir and western Anatolia in the last century], ed. Tuncer Baykara, (zmir:
Akademi Kitabevi, 1993) 137-138.
324
Ibid., p. 138.
325
Baykara, 1974, p.110; Kololu, pp.137- 140.
91

French Revolution, therefore he was against the repressive policies of the French state.
326
After
his death, his successors published Journel de Smyrne supporting the same political ideas.
327

Courrier de Smyrne became a fervent supporter of the Ottoman reforms when the Janissaries
were abolished. It not only began to publicize the importance of the Ottoman reforms after 1826,
but also stressed the weakening economic position of the Geeks, who had begun to disturb the
social order on the Western coastline. The newspaper underlined the economic difficulties of the
Greek bandits who attacked zmir by coming from the Aegean islands, because, before the revolt
these bandits used to conduct commercial activities with the coast of western Anatolia for their
subsistence. In the following years it also supported the Tanzimat, since Blacque likened it to the
French Revolution. Therefore, Courrier de Smyrne became one of the most trustable organs in
the press in the eyes of the state.
328
The French consul also published a French newspaper,
lEcho de lorient, in zmir. Another newspaper was published with the title Limperial de
Smyrna first in English, later in French.
329
The printing press of the American Board of
Missionaries also worked effectively in the city. It published almost 200 books and various
journals in Armenian, Turkish with Armenian alphabet, Greek, Turkish in the Greek alphabet,
Bulgarian and Hebrew (Ladino) between 1833 and 1853.
330
The foundation of the paper factory
in the city in also contributed to the increase in the number of newspapers published in zmir.
331

The abundance of Greek, Jewish, Armenian, Bulgarian and French newspapers in zmir indicate
that the non-Muslim Ottomans and Europeans pioneered in the development of the printing
press.
332
Ottoman-Turkish newspapers began to be published after 1869, when the printing press

326
Kololu, 1993, p. 138
327
Baykara, 1974, pp.110-111; Sadiye Tutsak, zmirde Eitim ve Eitimciler, 1850-1950, [Education and Teachers
in zmir, 1850-1950], (Ankara: T.C. Kltr Bakanl Yaynlar, 2002) 57.
328
Kololu, 1993, pp. 140-141.
329
Tutsak, 2002, pp. 57-58.
330
Sere, 1996, p. 12.
331
Baykara, 1974, p. 110.
332
Between the years 1826 and 1864, including the above mentioned ones, total 19 Greek newspapers were
published in zmir. The number of the Greek newspapers in the following years gradually increased in the city as
well. Solomonidis, 1959; Arslan, 2005.
92

of the Aydn Province was founded in 1868.
333
The first Turkish newspaper of zmir, Aydn, was
published in 1869 in the Aydn province as a bilingual newspaper both in Turkish and Greek.
334

The other Turkish newspapers, Devir (Epoch), 1872-1873, (initially it was published by Mehmed
Salim, later by Yanko Rasim), ntibah (Awakening), 1873-1875, zmir (published by Karadi
between 1877 and 878), Hizmet (Service) ,1886, Ahenk (Harmony), 1894, Haftalk zmir
(Weekly Smynra), 1897, Yevmi zmir [(Daily zmir), in Turkish and Greek], 1898, ttihat
(Union), 1909, Anadolu (Anatolia), 1911, and Kyl, (Peasant), 1908, followed Aydn.
335
The
first Turkish literary journal published in zmir was Nevruz (1884-1885), but before Nevruz (the
Persian New Years day) a satire magazine, Kara Sinan (Dark Sinan), was published between 3
June 1875 and 16 March 1876 in the Smyrni printing press of the Baltac Frankhouse.
336
The
journals of ule-i Edeb (Flame of Modesty), 6 February 1897-30 October 1897, Muktebes
(Quotation), 13 January 1898-August 1898), Gencine-i Edeb (Treasury of Customs), 21
November 1908-9 September 1910, are some examples of Turkish journals, which were
published in zmir in the last two decades of the 19
th
century.
337



Education
zmir was not only a significant commercial center but also an important education center
in Western Anatolia, especially for the Greeks. The Greeks who experienced great difficulties in
reaching educational facilities in the inner regions of Asia Minor came to zmir.
338
Because of
the lack of teachers and necessary educational material, especially during the years following the

333
Sere, 1996, p.20; Baykara, 1974, p. 110.
334
Tutsak, 2002, p. 60.
335
Ibid., pp. 61-65.
336
Tutsak, 2002, p.61; Baykara, 1974, p. 110.
337
Tutsak, 2002, pp. 65-67.
338
Augustinos Gerasimos, Kk Asya Rumlar, 19.yyda nan, Cemaat ve Etnisite, [The Greeks of Asia Minor,
Confession, Community, and Ethnicity in the Nineteenth Century] (stanbul: Ayra Yaynlar, 1997) 253.
93

Greek revolt, Greek families sent their children to the schools of the protestant missionaries.
339

Although the Orthodox Church disapproved of attending missionary schools, eventually it had to
consent for the benefit of the children on condition that these schools would adopt the Greek
educational system.
340
However, Protestant influence on the cultural environment of zmir and
especially on Greek culture was obvious and natural because the European merchant
communities were present in the city since the age of Enlightenment. The library of the Levant
Company in zmir with its choice collections constituted a channel that transmitted Protestant
ideas to the citys local intelligentsia.
341
Protestant ideas, which were the base of Enlightenment
thinking, was the main reason for the emergence of ideological and political conflict between the
Orthodox church and the emerging Greek education in zmir. Therefore, the cultural, and related
to this educational, environment of the city was highly influenced by the forces of commerce,
cultural change and religious dispute in zmir.
342
In the Greek pre-independence (1770-1821)
years, there was ideological conflict in Greek culture:
343
the tradition of religious learning,
supported by the church, and scholastic learning, supported by evangelical Orthodoxy. The latter
provided an ideological legitimization of anticlericalism, of civic humanism, of the ideas of
Enlightenment, and it was effectuated by the foundation of a new school of sciences in zmir.
The teaching of modern philosophy and science in the Chios and Ayvalk (Kydonies) academies
constituted an example for zmir. Thus a new school of sciences was founded in zmir as a
substitute for the old Evangelical School ( ). The school of sciences became the
main target of the church and the local clergy attempted to instigate opposition against it from

339
Ibid., pp. 253, 255.
340
Ibid., p.255.
341
Paschalis M. Kitromilides, Religious Criticism Between Orthodoxy and Protestantism, Ideological
Consequences of Social Conflict in Smyrna, in Enlightenment, Nationalism, Orthodoxy, Studies in the culture and
political thought of south-east Europe, (Hampshire, Vermont: Variorum, 1994) 120.
342
Ibid., pp. 120-121.
343
Ibid., p. 115.
94

other fractions in the city.
344
zmir was one of the most influential educational centers in Asia
Minor in which the main centers of Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment existed: The Evangelical
School was founded in zmir in 1733 and had three branches in various districts of the city. It
was the only Greek College of Asia Minor.
345
There were also the Filologikon Gymnasion
( ), founded in 1808, the Academy of Ayvalk and the well known
academy of Chios which were recognized in 1792.
346
zmir, including its hinterland, had one out
of six of the primary schools and one out of four of the secondary schools in the whole of
Anatolia. It also had the only high school in western Anatolia.
347
By the middle of the 19
th

century, various Greek schools were founded in zmir. Following the years of the Greek revolt,
in every village and even in the villages where only three or four Greek households existed,
schools were opened. Donations, inherited financial sources, and high revenues of some old
schools financially supported the management of the new Greek schools.
348
The first girls
school, which was located in a room in the Greek hospital, was founded in 1830.
349
Seven boys
schools free of charge and three private Greek schools existed in zmir.
350
In the middle of the
19
th
century, the increase in the number of Greek schools throughout the Empire was
considerable, although most of these schools were at primary level.
351
By 1878, in Asia Minor

344
Ibid., pp. 115, 118-119.
345
Stavros Th. Anestides, Education and Culture, Smyrna, Metropolis of the Asia Minor Greeks, (Alimos:
Ephesus Publishing, n.d.) 139-159. Its foundation traced back to the beginning of the 18
th
century: A small school,
which was established in 1707, constituted the nucleus of the Evangelic School. In those years Jesuit priests, who
were trying to attract children to their Catholic schools, were influential in zmir. Against this threat of Jesuits, four
young Greeks, eroteos Dendrinos, Panta eon, Sevastopoulos, Jori Hammer and Jori Vitalis

established Elliniki
Scholi with the approval of church, and after changing a few names, the Greek patriarch gave its final name in 1808.
Gerasimos, 1997, p. 260 ; Tutsak, 2002, p.48.
346
Richard Clogg, Two Accounts of the Academy of Ayvalk (Kydonies) in 1818-1819, in I Kathimas Anatoli:
Studies in Ottoman Greek History, Ed. Richard Clogg, (stanbul: The Isis Press, 2004) 135-136.
347
Augustinos, 1997, p. 253.
348
Ibid., Tutsak, 2002, p.48.
349
Stavros Th. Anestides, n.d., p. 145.
350
Aroni Trade School (1857), Renieri Private School (1860), Anastasiades Girls Institute (1858). Tutsak, 2002, pp.
48-49. Another girls school, Omirio Girls School was founded in 1881, and it had two kindergarten classes, five
middle school classes, and a five year secondary school. Anestides, n.d., p. 145.
351
Augustinos, 1997, pp. 251-252.
95

571 schools of 665 community schools were all of primary level.
352
By the 1870s, the Greek
schools of zmir had 1.400 students.
353
The Greeks of zmir also established a Teachers
Academy of young women students from various places of Asia Minor, who were supposed to
spread education in their hometowns.
354
Among other non-Muslim communities, the Greek and
Levantine community of zmir were the leaders for the girls education in the city. In total more
than 20 private Greek and non-Greek girls schools were indicators of the desire of the Ottoman
Greek and Levantine communities to integrate their women into every sphere of communal
life.
355
The newly founded Independent Greek Kingdom giving too much importance to
education initiated new education programs to serve the needs of the nation state, through which
they would have loyal and literate citizens.
356
The education campaign of the Greek state began
to be influential among the Ottoman Greeks in the Empire, too. The Greek consuls, especially in
the big cities of the Empire, worked like missionaries for spreading of Greek national
education.
357
Missionary letters in 1830s also mentioned the increased need for education in and
around zmir.
358
The Orthodox Church and the Greek communities cooperated to establish
schools all through the empire. zmir was the main target with its huge Greek population and
developed commerce, in which Greeks played a crucial role, since the beginning of the 18
th

century.
359
The Armenian community was the second largest non-Muslim community of zmir
after the Greek community, which had many schools. Gregorian Armenians had two big schools:
The Saint-Mesrob School for boys, which was founded in 1799 and enlarged in 1823, and Saint
Horopsima was the Armenian school for girls. Catholic Armenians had three schools for basic

352
Ibid., p. 252.
353
Ibid., pp. 254, 260.
354
Anestides, n.d., 145.
355
bid., 145.
356
Gerasimos, 1997, 244-245.
357
Ibid., p. 249.
358
Esra Dancolu, Anglo-Sakson Misyoner Kaynaklarna Gre 19. Yzyln lk Yarsnda zmir ve Bat Anadolu,
(Demografik Yap, Eitim Kurumlar), [zmir and Western Anatolia in the first half of the 19
th
century according to
Anglo-Sakson Missionary Sources, (demographic structure and education institutions)], in Son Yzylda zmir ve
Bat Anadolu, Ed. Tuncer Baykara, (zmir: Akademi Kitabevi, 1993) 273.
359
Augustinos, 1997, pp. 251, 253.
96

education, two for boys and one for girls.
360
Armenian students, unlike Greek ones, ceased to
attend school after attending the basic courses and learning the basics in mathematics. They
would generally learn a trade in a tradesmans shop or worked in an administrative post. They,
rarely, went to England to master a trade with the rich Armenians in England. Greek students
generally used to go to France to continue their education.
361
In the given period of this study,
between 1826 and 1864, only two primary Jewish schools, Hevrot and Yeivot, whose education
level was very low and unsatisfactory, existed in zmir.
362
Until the Alliance Isralite Universelle
was founded in France in 1860 by French Jews inspired by the principles of the French
Revolution, to liberate, educate and unite the Jews all over world, the education level of the
Jewish communities remained very low. The Alliance Isralite Universelle opened a school for
boys in 1873 and a school for girls in 1878 in zmir.
363
Thus the number of educational
institutions for Jews in zmir began to increase after 1870s. The other biggest college of zmir,
apart from Evangelic School of the Greeks was the French Propaganda College, which was
founded in 1837 and run by Lazarist priests.
364
In addition to the Propaganda College, the nuns
of Saint Vincent De Paul Sect played a significant role in preserving and increasing the French
presence and influence in the city.
365
These nuns founded a school in 1833 for the poor girls in
the Frank quarter. They accepted students from the Armenian, Greek, Turkish and Jewish
communities regardless of religion. They visited poor neighborhoods of the city and helped the
poor and ill people.
366
This school became the school of Saint Vincent in 1848. In 1861 the
French state turned this school into a French school with a French hospital, and left its
administration to the Soeurs de la Charite, who also founded the Buca School in the same year in

360
Tutsak, 2002, p.49.
361
Ibid., p. 49.
362
Ibid., p. 50.
363
Naum, 2000, pp. 102-104.
364
Ibid.; Olaf Yaranga, 19.Yzyln lk Yarsnda Fransz Gezginlerin Anlatmlarnda zmir, [zmir in the first half of
the 19
th
century, in the accounts of the French travelers], (zmir: zmir Byk ehir Belediyesi Yaynlar, 2
nd
. ed,
2002) 48; Tutsak, 2002, p. 50.
365
Yaranga, 2002, p. 47.
366
Ibid; Tutsak, 2002, p.50.
97

the Buca district of the city.
367
Two other French schools, Saint Jean and Saint Andre, at
elementary level, were founded in 1841 in Alsancak.
368
One of the Catholic denominations of
Austria, P. Peres Mechitairses, opened a school in 1856 in zmir. Before this school, Austria
opened a Franciscan school in zmir in 1704.
369
Italian schools in zmir were directly funded and
established by the Italian state.
370
In addition to these schools of Christians, there were also three
Protestant schools of trade in zmir that they were founded between in 1852 and 1859.
371
The
schools of the ABCFM (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions), had an
undeniable role in the educational life of the Ottoman cities from the 1830s. Missionary schools
attracted too many students all over the Empire, especially from Greek and Armenian families.
372

From missionary accounts, we learn that, in 1830, Brewers (agent of ABCFM) had two girls
schools, with 141 students,
373
and in 1863 an American Protestant school existed, which
belonged to an Armenian group.
374
The influence of the missionaries in zmir increased
especially in 1833, when ABCFMs agent Temple moved the printing press from Malta to zmir,
and this printing press remained in the city until 1854.
375
ABCFM opened schools for the Greeks
and Jews in zmir between 1830 and 1850, whereas their mission remained unsuccessful, mainly
because of the opposition of the Greek Orthodox Church. Besides, these missionaries did not
have the expected results from the Greek and Jewish community of the city. Therefore, they
abandoned their activities in the region both towards Greeks and Jews, and their mission in the
Ottoman lands turned out to be only the Armenian mission.
376
In the given period of this study,

367
Tutsak, 2002, p.50.
368
Ibid., p.51.
369
Ibid.
370
Ibid. p. 52.
371
Ibid.
372
It was basically because of two reasons: They used the Lancaster system, which was designed according to the
Fregions where limited resources of education, like limited number of staff and educational equipment, existed and
they were opened to every one regardless of religion. Augustinos, 1997, p. 255, 263.
373
Danacolu, 1993, p. 273.
374
Tutsak, 2002, p.52.
375
Danacolu, 1993, p. 266.
376
Ibid. p. 267.
98

1826-1864, the number of non-Muslim and Muslim modern schools increased gradually, and
flourished rapidly especially during the Hamidian period of 1876-1908.
As far as education of the Muslims is considered, we should look at the medreses and the
influential denominations or sects in the city. The traditional Quran schools (sbyan mektebi) at
elementary level and medreses at higher level under the control of the ulema, were the two main
traditional civil educational institutions for the Muslims.
377
These traditional Quran schools
constituted the base of the Ottoman public education until the foundation of the Regulation of
Public Education in 1869.
378
Evliya elebi, who visited zmir in the second half of the 17
th

century, noted forty sbyan schools in the city.
379
As a result of the fires, by 1870s, fifteen sbyan
schools remained in zmir.
380
The Muslims who wanted to acquire practical and worldly
knowledge had to educate themselves or to join in the circles of educated people. In the next
medrese stage, students had education in deeper religious learning. The instruction of reading
and writing and the transmission of utilitarian-practical knowledge was not the main purpose of
medrese education.
381
Between 17
th
and 19
th
centuries a total of 33 medreses existed in zmir.
382

Medreses were built as additional parts of mosques, not as separate buildings in zmir.
383
The
number of the medreses diminished through time so that in 1878, 19 and by 1891, 15 medreses
remained in zmir.
384
The notion of public school system emerged in the Empire in the middle of
the 19
th
century through the initiative of the Tanzimat bureaucrats, who believed in the necessity

377
Seluk Akin Somel, The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire 1839-1908, Islamization,
Autocracy and Discipline, (Leiden, Boston, Kln: Brill, 2001) 15, 17.
378
Ibid., p.15.
379
Noted in Tutsak, 2002, p. 27.
380
Ibid.
381
Somel, 2001, pp. 18-19.
382
Mnir Aktepe described in detail the construction dates, locations and who had them build as a result of his
survey of vakf notebooks of zmir. Mnir Aktepe, zmir ehri, Osmanl Devri Medreseleri Hakknda n
Bilgi,[Information about the Medreses of the Ottoman Period in zmir], in stanbul niversitesi Edebiyat Fakltesi
Tarih Dergisi, v. 26, March 1972.
383
Ibid., p. 98.
384
Tutsak, 2002, p. 35.
99

of secularizing education.
385
In zmir the educational reform attempts of the Tanzimat in favor of
Muslims began in 1872.
386
The first iptidai mektep of zmir was founded in 1873/ Teshiliye
Mektepi, and its branches were opened in 1880, 1881, 1887 and 1890.
387
The second primary
school of zmir functioned as a girls school, Namazgah nas ptidai Mektepi, in 1874, and had
160 students in 1891.
388
In 1856, the establishment of a secondary school, rdiye mektepi, was
permitted with a ferman, which stated that since the number of Muslims was high in zmir and
since the other millets (referring to the non-Muslim communities) had their own schools, a
secondary school would open for Muslims, too.
389
Since its construction could not be completed,
the first secondary school of zmir started to function in 1858 in the building of one of the sbyan
mekteps. Even by 1877 the building of the first secondary school of zmir was still to be
completed.
390
When it began to work in 1858, the demand was so low it had only 25 students by
1862.
391
In the following decades, in the 1870s and 1880s, other secondary schools were
established in inner Western Anatolia.
392
However, a remarkable activity in the area of
educational reform began in zmir only after 1893 when Tahrirat- Umumiye and Tarifname
were prepared. After this, many new public schools flourished in zmir.
393
The first high school
(idadi mektepi) of zmir was planned to open in 1846, but this could not be achieved so that it
opened in 1882.
394
As these figures illustrate, and Tuncer Baykara also mentions, the level of
education life of the Turkish community of zmir was behind the non-Muslim communities

385
Directorate of Rdiye Schools was founded in 1838; the Regulation of Public Education in 1869 (1869 Maarif
Nizamnamesi) was issued. 1869 Regulation envisioned reform in the sbyan schools and the opening of the primary
schools with the name of ptidai Mektepleri. Somel, 2001, p. 15.
386
Tutsak, 2002, p. 28.
387
Ibid, p. 117.
388
Ibid., p. 118.
389
Ibid., p. 138.
390
Baykara, 1974, p. 108.
391
Ibid.
392
Tutsak, 2002, p. 138.
393
Ibid., pp. 28-29.
394
Ibid., p. 147.
100

education. Turkish public schools were not comparable to non-Muslim schools, where education
quality and quantity of schools and students were much higher.
395



Social Clubs
The most popular and famous casinos and social clubs were founded by the Levantines of
zmir. The most famous social club of the city was the Frank Casino (also known as European
Casino, Cercle Europan or just Casino) which was founded in 1785.
396
To be a member of these
clubs was a sign of prestigiousness in society and only Levantines could become members of
them. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Greeks wanted to become members of the
Casino, too. They were not accepted so they founded their own Casino in 1818. The Greek
Casino was situated in the most vital part of the city, in front of the Agia Fotini church on Frank
Street.
397
A traveler noted in 1835 that Armenians, Turks, Jews and Greeks were not accepted at
these European clubs, since their presence was seen as something degrading. But, he also added
that towards the end of his trip in zmir in 1835 he heard that some Greeks and Armenians were
also going to be accepted to these clubs.
398
The same traveler also noted that the most interesting
event (he says development) he witnessed in 1835 in zmir was the presence of the Turkish
gendarmerie commander with two young Turks in the Frank Casino. It was the first time that
people joined in the casino entertainment without wearing European dress.
399
Some other
travelers also noted that in the following years leading members of the non-Muslim communities

395
Baykara, 1974, p. 108. For example, the Boys Evangelic School of Greeks was opened in 1733 and by 1890s
had 1023 students, while the first high school (idadi) of zmir was founded in 1882 with only 248 students. Ibid.
396
Rauf Beyru, 19. yyda zmirde Yaam [Life in the 19th Century zmir], (Literatr Yaynlar, stanbul, 2000) 122,
128.
397
Ibid., p. 131.
398
Charles G. Addison, Damascus and Palmyra, A Journey to the East, (London:Richard Bentley, New Burlington
Street, 1838, vol. I, 344-45 quoted Beyru, 2000, pp. 121-122, FN. 295.
399
Ibid.
101

and although not often other Turks also joined in the balls of the Levantines.
400
Travelers also
noted the presence of an Armenian Club without giving much information about it.
401
Casinos
used to give a three month membership opportunity for visitors and foreigners in the city.
Reading and gambling saloons existed in the Casinos and regularly balls were organized.
Dancing was the main part of these balls in zmir.
402
However, Sporting Club (Appendix-2,
Pictures 09), which was founded in 1895, became the most popular social club of the city at the
end of the century. Cultural activities were organized in a separate saloon which was preserved
only for theatre plays and concerts.
403
In zmir, balls, concerts, theatre plays, and balls were not
only organized for entertainment purpose, but also in order to raise funds. For example a kermes
(bazaar) was organized by the European women for the Armenians who suffered most after the
big fire of 1845. A concert was organized for the families of the deceased people in the 1897
Greek-Turkish war. Another concert was held for the improvement of the Agia Fotini School of
Greeks in 1879, and a ball was organized for the benefit of the schools of the Alliance
Universelle Israelite in 1884.
404
This active social life, which was mostly organized by the
Levanten and non-Muslim communities of zmir, demonstrates how strongly entrenched they
were into the social and cultural fabric of the city. Another indication of the deep entrenchment
of Ottoman non-Muslims into the social fabric of zmir was the presence of their hospitals since
18
th
century.





400
Beyru, 2000, 122-123.
401
Ibid., pp. 131, 134.
402
Ibid. 126-127, 131
403
Ibid., p. 133.
404
Ibid., pp. 250-251.
102

Hospitals
The Foreign and Greek communities had also founded their own hospitals in the 18
th
century.
The oldest Greek hospital, which functioned until the 20
th
century, was founded in 1748. The
Catholics hospital was St. Antoine, which was founded in 1710, functioned under the control of
Austria. The Armenian hospital was founded in 1831 and renovated in 1863. The Jewish
Hospital was founded in 1831. Two Turkish civil hospitals were founded in 1846, and a military
hospital was founded in later years. In addition to these, the English, the French, and the Dutch
also had their hospitals in zmir.
405
The presence of various hospitals for each community also
indicates their assimilation into the social structure of the city.
The economic development and close interaction with western culture through the
Levantine community of the city made the non-Muslim communities of zmir, especially the
Greeks, become pioneers not only in the economic activities of the city, but also in the
development of social and cultural life. Muslims could reach the level of non-Muslims in their
active role in social and cultural life in 1890s, when their role became important all over the
Empire in every term in accordance with the Pan-Islamic policy of Abdlhamid II. However, the
Muslims participation in zmirs modern social and cultural life coincided with the growing
ethnic nationalist struggles in the Balkans in the 1890s. These struggles had by the 1910s
fermented into the rise of Turkish nationalism, which not only made the Muslims of zmir
perceive their Ottoman non-Muslim fellows as others. They also began to perceive their ethnic
identities as Turks against non-Muslims ethnicity. Before this process began to work, how did
this multi-cultural society respond to Ottoman modernization? In order to analyze this question,
it is important to understand the nature of the Tanzimat reforms and institutions. The following
chapter provides a base to examine the relations of the Greek-Turkish communities with the state
and communal relations among themselves.

405
Atay, 1978, pp. 63-64.
103
Chapter 3. Ottoman Reforms
Ottoman Modernization
Examining the multi-ethno-religious zmir society in the given period of this study (1826-
1864) requires recognizing the changing perception of the state, the cities and subjects or
citizens during the period of Ottoman modernization. Centralization was the crucial element
for the Ottoman sultans in maintaining and strengthening arbitrary use of political power. Sultans
of the both pre-modern and the modernizing Ottoman Empire arbitrarily used means of political
power when they saw it necessary. A new European educated class of bureaucrats challenged the
arbitrary political power of the Ottoman sultan in ruling periods of Abdlmecid (1839-1861) and
Abdlaziz (1861-1876). However, the rise of this new bureaucratic class did not aim to challenge
the centralized administration of the Empire. The centralization tendency of the 1864 Provincial
Reform Law is a good example of this.
406
Therefore, challenging the arbitrary power of the
Ottoman sultan did not lead to the emergence of decentralized regulations in the Empire during
the Tanzimat period. Ottoman centralization was seriously at stake in the 18
th
century as the
growing political power of the land notables (ayan) challenged centralized administration.
However, Mahmud II's strict measures aimed at the re-centralization and re-acquisition of the
control of the imperial government in the late 1820s.
407


406
For the discussion about the Provincial Reform Regulation of 1864 see section 3.3.
407
The development of local notables (ayans) can be liken to the land-owning aristocrats of Western Europe,
however, their attempt to take place in the rule of the country with the Ottoman sultan was terminated by Mahmud II
in early 1820s. The local notables had reached to the point that Mahmud II had to ratify sened-i ittifak ('Deed of
Agreement') in October 1808, which outlined relationship between the sultan and his local notables. Through this
pact for the first time in the Ottoman Empire's history a sultan had to ratify an agreement negotiated between the
grand vizier and the ayans. Zrcher finds the term "Ottoman Magna Carta" as a suitable term for the agreement
instead of viewing it as a first attempt for constitutionalism, since this pact was not the codification of the rights of
citizens. It shows the extent of the ayan influence in the Empire that they were officially recognized as partners in
government. Therefore, since the pact was in contradiction with the Ottoman traditional political system, document
was never signed by the sultan Mahmud II himself. Zrcher, 1993, p. 31. Historians, while presenting Mahmud's
reformist actions, also stated his attempts to re-gain central power of the Ottoman sultans in order to execute the
reforms. Among them, nalck called the rule of Mahmud II as "autocracy" (istibdad). However, he also adds that if
Mahmud II did not make radical reforms and did obey the principles of the Sened-i ttifak of 1808 this would lead
to division of Anatolia under separate local Muslim principalities as in the 14
th
century. Halil nalck, Tanzimat'n
Uygulanmas ve Sosyal Tepkileri," Belleten XXVIII:112, 1964 (from now on 1964b) 608-609. In contrast to Halil
nalck, according to erif Mardin the deed was far from being a magna carta, one of the initial steps for the
104

Sultans visits in Rumeli and the elimination of clothing regulations for the non-Muslims
by the 1829 clothing code, which abolished the visible distinctions between non-Muslim and
Muslim communities,
408
were not only some attempts to gain loyalty of the non-Muslim subjects
to prevent other possible separatist movements, but also his means to restore central power of the
imperial government. New clothing law of 1829 abolished clothing regulations for the non-
Muslims, but enacted new codes on state level. It re-defined the dress code of civil, religious,
military state officials in order to consolidate his personal power over the administration.
409
I
contemplate that all these were undertaken to repair the oppressive image of sultan Mahmud II
after his harsh treatment of the Greek population at the beginning of the Greek revolt
410
both
within the public and among the European states and Russia that interfered in the Greek issue.
Securing centralized control with the arbitrary use of means of control, Mahmud II attempted to
provide social order and legitimacy in the Empire. All of the following was made possible as
Mahmud II used civil and military as his personal instruments of his arbitrary power: his
suppression of ayans; his bloody elimination of the Janissaries and abolishment of the Bektashi
order; increasing control mechanisms over the population, for example, giving exemplary
punishment through arbitrary closing downs of the coffeehouses in stanbul in which
inconvenient political discussions were held; and more importantly forming a spy network in the
capital to control people;
411
and the issue of the 1829 clothing law, and not to mention his orders

transformation of the Empire into a modern centralized state. erif Mardin, The Genesis of the Young Turk Thought,
(Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Univerity Press, 1962), 148.
408
Donald Quataert, Clothing Laws, State, and Society in the Ottoman State, 1720-1829, IJMES, n. 29, 1997, 406-
407, 413, 419-420.
409
Quataert, 1997, pp. 412-413.
410
When the Greek revolt broke out in 1821, the Ottoman state declared that the condition of war would be applied.
In other words, it justified the Chios massacres and the strict measures of exile and sometimes murders of the
suspicious Greeks in the Aegean islands or towns, the hanging of the Greek patriarch at the front gate of the
patriarchate in Istanbul, the dismissal of the Greeks from bureaucracy through the application of principle of harbi.
For the discussion on principle of harbi and perception of the Greek revolt by the Ottoman state see chapter 4.1.
411
Cengiz Krl, narrating from Cabi Tarihi: Tarih-i Sultan Selim-i Salis ve Mahmud- Sani, discussed in detail the
spy reports which were mostly conducted in the coffeehouses. As he mentioned, one day several coffeehouses
would be closed and then there would not be any closings for several weeks. Personal contacts of the informer and
the police with the coffeehouse owner seem to have largely determined which coffeehouses were to be closed and
which to remain open. Cengiz Krl, The Struggle Over Space: coffeehouses of Ottoman stanbul, 1780-1845,
105

to execute non-rebellious Ottoman Greeks during the Greek revolt. I argue that the autocractic
rule of the Ottomans continued to exist in the period of Mahmud II in that he aimed to re-store
the centralized power of the Ottoman imperial government. For example, Mahmud II ordered
eyh l islam Yasincizade Abdlvehab Efendi to write a book in the which theory of absolute
obedience to the sultan could be justified by the sharia. Therefore, the eyh l islam wrote a book
(Hulasat el-burhan fi itaat el Sultan) by compiling twenty five prophetic traditions and stressed
the absolute necessity of obeying rulers.
412

The attempts of the imperial government through initiating new regulations peculiar to
the problematic regions in order to calm down the violent events might be seen as
decentralization atempts of the state in the first place. The reorgnization document for Lebanon,
after the agreesive events between Druzeds and Maronites in 1845, and for Crete in 1866, when
the Greek population rebelled and violent coflict emerged mostly between Greek merchants and
Muslim land owners were the typical examples to such attitude of the Ottoman state. However,
in reality, they remained as quick interventions to provide social order and secure Ottoman rule
in these regions. The state immeditaley after issuing such reorganization documents, applied
policies to re-store the central Ottoman political power.
413
The reigns of Abdlmecid (1839-
1861) and Abdlaziz (1861-1876) indicated the beginning of a different era regarding the
possession of the political power in the Empire. The emergence of a class of Western educated
bureaucrats (men of Tanzimat) gave the signs of challenging arbitrary power of the Ottoman
sultan. These bureaucrats wanted to have loyalty to the state Porte more than to the Sultan
himself, which put them into contest with the sultan. The already started Porte and palace
competition could initiate a process towards constitutional regime in the Empire if it was not

unpublished dissertation, (Binghamton: Binghamton University, 2000) 248. He also noted how ordinary people
defied against the monitoring of the coffeehouses and other public places. These personal contacts, that means a
cooperation of different community members against state. This resistance against state authority also indicates the
social dynamic in the capital.
412
Mardin, 1962, p. 149.
413
lber Ortayl,, Tanzimat Devri'nde Osmanl Mahalli dareleri, (1840-1880), (Ankara: TTK, 2000) 51-53, 66-67.
106

suspended. The despotic rule of Ablhamid II wiped out the very initial steps towards a
constitutional regime and the arbitrary political power of the Ottoman sultan was firmly restored
during his reign. Except for the 37 years rule of Abdlmecid and Abdlaziz, arbitrary political
power of the Ottoman sultan was not challenged during the rule of Mahmud II and Abdlhamid
II, instead, re-entrenched in politics and society. However, this does not mean that Tanzimat
reforms were smoothly and successfully applied all over the Empire and sultans Abdlmecid and
Abdlaziz sincerely supported and encouraged reformist statesmen. There was constant
opposition of anti-reformists in the government circles. Despite the continuous opposition of the
conservative statesmen in the administrative cadres, the reform regulations were applied under
the leadership of Mustafa Reid Pasha as foreign minister (1837-1841, 1845-1846, 1853-1854)
and grand vizier (1846-1848, 1848-1852, 1852, 1854-1855, 1856-1857, 1857-1858), Ali Pasha
(grand vizier, 1852-1853, 1855-1856, 1858-1859, 1867-1871) and Fuat Pasha (foreign minister,
1852-1853, 1855-1856, 1858-1860, 1867-1871, grand vizier, 1861-1863 and 1863-1866) when
they were in charge as successors of Mustafa Reid Pasha. The instability in the office of grand
vizier alone already indicates the ambivalent and unpredictable attitude of the sultans about the
Tanzimat reforms. There were always opponents of the reforms, and sultans of the Tanzimat
period were quite often caught between two opposing groups, as I mention below. Regarding the
intention of the state about modernizing reforms, neither the Ottoman sultans nor the Tanzimat
bureaucrats aimed to construct a modern state in the sense of Western parliamentary regimes, but
they wanted to construct a well running bureaucracy with a strong central authority. A closer
analysis of the 1839 and 1856 imperial edicts also indicate the aim of constructing an efficient
bureaucratic empire with a strong centralized power, and in doing this the former edict stressed
the significance of sharia rules to achieve this aim.
The principle of the rule of law of the Tanzimat period may be considered the most
important principle that had a direct impact in the communal reltions of the Ottoman society. The
107

Ottoman Empire struggled to apply it basically in order to regain its legitimacy in its internal and
external affairs. As the discussion below will show, 1839 reform edict without contradicting with
Islamic law sharia stressed the sovereignty of law for the well being of the subjects, and in
return of the Empire. In 1839 edict, law was described as superior to administrators and even
sultans.
414
Although sultan Abdlmecid took the oath to obey to the 1839 reform edict, he and
his successors always knew that the edicts were prepared by depending on his imperial sovereign
power that they could change them if they wanted so. Therefore, in reality, the premises of the
reform edicts did not have power to restrict sultans' political power, as did the constitutional
systems of the modern Western states.
There is no evidence that the ideas of the Glhane Rescript of 1839 were formulated
under the Western influence, unlike the reform edict of 1856
415
. The conventional idea in the
Ottoman historiography of the 19
th
century has been argued that the 1839 reform edict was
prepared according to Western ideal.
416
However, the text of Hatt- erif of Glhane suggests
that it was formulated according to sharia.
417
A closer analysis of the hatt proves this:

All the world knows that since the first days of the Ottoman State, the
lofty principles of the Kuran and the rules of the eriat were always
perfectly observed. Our mighty Sultanate reached the highest degree of

414
Halil nalck, Sened-i ttifak ve Glhane Hatt- Hmayunu, Belleten XXVIII:112, p. 620.
415
Butrus Abu Manneh, The Islamic Roots of The Glhane Rescript, in Studies on Islam and the Ottoman Empire
in the 19
th
Century 1826-1876 (stanbul: The Isis Press, 2001) 74-75, (from know on 2001a). Before Abu Manneh,
Roderic Davison also mentioned the Islamic feature of the Glhane rescript. Davison, 1990, p. 114.
416
For example, Niyazi Berkes states with no doubt that "The formalization of Mahmud's concept of justice, (the
administration of justice in terms of equality before the law) as the basis for the Charter's Fundamentals was bound
to create the difficulty of reconciling statute laws with a number of practices derived from sharia and perpetuated
through the millet system." Niyazi Berkes, The Development of Secularism in Turkey, (Montreal: McGill University
Press, 1964) 147. According to nalck, in the Glhane, the priority was the sovereignty of the law (kanun
hakimiyeti); law was described as superior to everything, to people, administrators, and even sultans. nalck, 1964a,
p. 620. This was the new Western inspired principle of equality Ibid., p. 621. The idea of equality, which originated
from the West, meant the equality of the citizens, in the Ottoman Empire it meant equality between communities
and subjects. Ibid. In the conventional writing of history of the Ottoman reforms, the appropriation of the principle
of equality between the non-Muslim and Muslims of the Empire is perceived as contrary to Islam and as if it was
inspired by the Western model.
417
Manneh, 2001a, pp. 85-93.
108

strength and power, and all its subjects (the highest degree) of ease and
prosperity but in the last one hundred and fifty years, because of a
succession of difficulties and diverse causes the sacred eriat was not
obeyed nowhere the beneficent regulations followed; consequently the
former strength and prosperity have changed in to weakness
and poverty. It is evident the countries not governed by the law of the
eriat cannot survive. From the very fist day of our accession to the throne,
our thoughts have been devoted exclusively to the development of the
empire and the promotion of the prosperity of the people..... Thus,
from now on, every defendant shall be entitled to a public hearing a
according to the rules of the eriat after inquiry and examinations; and
without the pronouncement of a regular sentence no one may secretly or
publicly put another to death by poison or by any other means....The
Muslim and non-Muslim subjects of our lofty sultanate shall without
exception, enjoy our imperial concessions. Therefore, we grant perfect
security to all the populations of our empire in their lives, their honour and
their properties, according to the sacred law.
418


It was the traditional duty of a Muslim ruler to avoid corruption, provide justice
and take good care of his tax paying subjects.
419
The source of these ideas in the Glhane
Rescript originated from Ottoman memorialists and Islamic political thinkers of the middle
Ages.
420
The 1839 imperial rescript was prepared by the Ottoman Council (meclis-i ura), whose
half of the members was ulema and the rest were the high state officials.
421
It was not exclusively
prepared by Mustafa Reid Pasha, although he was presented by the conventional Ottoman

418
Hatt- erif of Glhane, 3 November 1839, in J.C. Hurewitz, The Middle East and North Africa in World
Politics, 2nd. ed., v. I (New Haven, 1975) 269-271.
419
Halil nalck, State and Ideology Under Sleyman I, in The Middle East and the Balkans Under the Ottoman
Empire: Essays on Economy and Society, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993a).
420
Manneh, 2001a, pp. 90-93.
421
Ibid., pp.93, 87-88.
109

historiography as the father of the Tanzimat.
422
Sultan Abdlmecid issued a decree (irade),
which was prepared basically by the ulema when Reid Pasha was abroad.
423
This irade
constituted the basic principles of the Glhane. Therefore, none of the premises of the Glhane
Rescript deviates from the sharia. The premises of the Rescript about the security of life, honor,
and property for all his subjects regardless of religion were entrusted to the Ottoman ruler, who
guaranteed them according to the sacred law. Therefore, I do not agree with Ussama Makdisi
who, by depending on the Tanzimat policies in the Arab lands of the Empire, argued that
Tanzimat regulations including the Glhane decree made a clear break with the past. He called
the intersection of modernization with imperial state building as Ottoman imperialism.
424

which aimed to break with the pre-modern past of the Empire.
425
This argument might be
accurate to some extent for the 1856 Islahat edict and for the reform policies of the Ali and Fuad
Pashas in the 1860s. However, the early Tanzimat regulations of the 1839 edict did not aim to
break with its pre-modern past. There was continuity of the pre-Tanzimat concepts and
regulation in the Tanzimat peirod. Therefore, if there was an Ottoman imperialism, it not only
included the intersection of modernization with imperial state building but also sharia (Islamic
law). Therefore, defining Ottoman imperialism with the intersection of modernization with
imperial state building and sharia seems to be more accurate. I believe that the politics of the

422
Stanford J Shaw and Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, 1808-1975,
(Cambridge, New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1
st
ed. 1977, reprinted 1988) 58-59. Bernard Lewis calls him as
"real architect of the 19
th
century Ottoman reforms, who were more important than any of other the men of the
reform. Bernard Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, 1961, pp. 103-104. nalck also stresses the impact of
Western notions on Mahmud II's thinking, which was reflected in 1839 Glhane rescript. He mentions that although
the nature of the rescript and its declaration was suitable to the Ottoman tradition, like issue of the old adaletnames,
its main author Mustafa Reid Pasha offered radical changes to the Ottoman system and put restrictions on the
arbitrary use of power and palace despotism of Mahmud II, Halil nalck, Sened-i ttifak ve Glhane Hatt-
Hmayunu, 1964a, pp. 611, 614-615. Abu Manneh aptly demonstrates that Mustafa Reid Pasha was not
exclusively the most significant author of the 1839 Glhane Rescript, as the conventional historians wrote, Manneh,
2001a, pp. 87-89.
423
Manneh, 2001a, pp. 86-87. In conventional Ottoman History Mustafa Reid Pasha is regarded as "the father of
the Tanzimat" or the "real architect of the 19
th
century Ottoman reforms," Shaw & Karal Shaw, 1977, p. 58; Lewis,
1963, pp. 103-104.
424
Ussama Makdisi, Rethinking Ottoman Imperialism, in The Empire in the City, Arab Provincial Capitals in the
Late Ottoman Empire, eds., Jens Hanssen, Thomas Philip, Stefan Weber, (Beirut: Ergon Verhag Wrzburg in
Kommission, 2002), 30-31.
425
Ibid., 30.
110

Ottoman Empire in the 19
th
century was made up by overlapping legal practices, categories, and
principles. That is to say, the modernizing Ottoman Empire had a very complex structure which
can be analyzed by considering various types of relations and simultaneous events. As far as
zmir is concerned, as it will be discussed in section 4.2, archival evidence indicates that the state
continued to apply pre-Tanzimat regulations to maintain social order and there was not any
radical break with the pre-Tanzimat regulations. Moreover, while discussing 1839 imperial edict
we should also consider the political conditions and international relations of the Ottoman
Empire under which the two imperial edicts were organized. When the Glhane Rescript was
declared the Ottoman Empire was struggling with the Egypt problem. The state was in recurrent
warfare with Mehmed Ali Pasha of Egypt, who terribly defeated the Ottoman army at Nizib.
Therefore, it was also some part of the reality that the Glhane rescript was declared to gain
British support against Mehmed Ali Pasha.
426
Therefore, we might say that it was declared to
gain British support, but its content and premises were prepared according to shaira and inherited
most of the ideas of Mahmud II
While the Ottoman state reconfirming the principles of the equality of non-Muslims of
the 1839 Glhane Rescript in the 1856 imperial edict, it completely abolished the previous
barriers of the millet system and nominated the reforms. While the reforms expanded and
guaranteed the rights and freedoms of all people of the Empire regardless of religion, in fact the
state entrusted these rights and freedoms to them; the 1856 edict "recognized implicitly that the
government was the source of their rights and freedoms."
427
In the pre-Tanzimat Ottoman era,
the rights and freedoms of the non-Muslim communities were inherent in the millet system itself
and could not be restricted or changed at will and they were given in perpetuity and therefore
"became inherent in the millet itself without being subject to renewal, abolition or limitation," as

426
Lewis, 1961, p. 162.
427
Ibid., p. 164.
111

it had been since the time of the Mehmed II.
428
In other words, the sultan underlined that the
millet would proceed with his high approval and the supervision of his high Porte:
429


...The guarantees promised on our part by the Hatt- Hmayun of Glhane, and in conformity
with the Tanzimat, to all the subjects of my empire, without distinction of classes or of
religion, for the security of their persons and property, and the preservation of their honor, are
to-day confirmed and consolidated, and efficacious measures shall be taken in order that they
may have their full entire effect. All the privileges and spiritual minities granted by my
ancestors ab antiquo, and at subsequent dates, to all Christian communities or other non-
Mussulman persuasions established in my empire, under my protection, shall be confirmed
and maintained.
Every Christian or other non-Mussulman community shall be bound within a fixed
period, and with concurrence of a commission composed ad hoc of members of its own body,
to proceed, with my high approbation and under the inspection of my Sublime Porte, to
examine into its actual immunities and privileges, and to discuss and submit to my Sublime
Porte the reforms required by the progress of civilization and of the age...
430


The sovereignty was entrusted to the Ottoman sultan himself, as it was re-stressed in the
1856 reform edict:
...As all forms of religion are and shall be freely professed in my dominions...The
nomination and choice of all functionaries and other employees of my empire being wholly
dependent upon my sovereign will, all the subjects of my empire, without distinction of
nationality, shall be admissible to public employments, and qualified to fill them according to
their capacity and merit, and conformably with rules to be generally applied...

428
Kemal Karpat, Millets and Nationality: The Roots of the Incongruity of Nation and State in the Post-Ottoman
Era in Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, v. I, ed. Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis, (New York,
London: Holmes & Miller Publishers Inc. 1982) 145.
429
Karpat, 1982 p. 164.
430
Islahat Ferman, 18 February 1856 in Hurewitz, 1975, pp. 316-317.
112

...The nomination and choice of all functionaries and other employes of my empire being
wholly dependent upon my sovereign will, all the subjects of my empire, without distinction
of nationality, shall be admissible to public employments...
431


As it is seen, in the 1856 reform edict, the Ottoman sultan presented itself as the only
source of power in delegating freedoms and rights within the Ottoman land, and also in
inspecting them.
When analyzing the Tanzimat Period and its impact on the Ottoman society, struggle
between supporters and opponents of the reforms should be considered as well. Anti-reformist
statesmen sometimes managed to manipulate Sultan Abdlmecid and Abdlaziz and to interrupt
reform regulations in certain periods. The Damads, Damad Mehmed Seyyid,
432
Rza, Mehmet
Ali Pasha opposed to Mustafa Reid Pashas rule and managed to dismiss him from his position
on 31 March 1841. After Mustafa Reit Pasha, anti-reformist Rza Pasha was in charge to apply
Tanzimat regulations.
433
Rza and his group immediately abolished Tanzimat regulations: The
office of muhassl was eliminated and governors of the provinces became responsible for dealing
with the economic matters in addition to their duties of providing security and social order in
vilayets and sancaks, like in the pre-Tanzimat period. Moreover, they also send a promising
imperial order to every province to convince the conservative people that Islamic principles still
strongly existed in the new organization.
434
In sum, anti-reformist group eliminated the most
radical reforms which Mustafa Reid Pasha attempted to implement. Regarding the Sultans
approach to reforms, although Abdlaziz had tendencies for restoring the arbitrary political

431
Islahat Ferman, 18 February 1856 in J.C. Hurewitz, The Middle East and North Africa in World Politics,
2nd. ed., v. I (New Haven, 1975) 316.
432
Butrus Abu Manneh, The Sultan and the Bureaucracy: The Anti-Tanzimat Concepts of Grand Vizier Mahmud
Nedim Pasha, IJMES, n. 22, 1990, p. 260.
433
nalck, 1964b, p. 637-638.
434
Ibid., p. 638.
113

power of the Ottoman sultan, Ali Pasha was managed to control him.
435
Similarly, under the rule
of Abdzaziz, Fuad Pasha tried to grant the same kind of autonomy which sultan Abdlmecid
granted Ali Pasha.
436
Mahmud Nedim Pasha, who was secretly opposing to the reforms in the
administrative circles since 1840s, managed to become two times grand vizier (from September
1871 to the end of July 1872 and between 1875 and 1876). He entered the service at the Porte in
1842 and even closely worked with Mustafa Reid Pasha and his group on the recommendation
of Ali and Fuat until 1854. Suppressing his own tendencies, he accommodated himself very well
to the group of Mustafa Reid Pasha but did not get influenced by him. He wrote a treatise in
which he explained his ideas about the reasons of the Ottoman decline, the Tanzimat and
presented suggestions for the revival of the Empire.
437
He believed that the absolute power of the
Ottoman sultan should be restored for the revival of the Ottoman Empire, as it had been during
the reign of Mahmud II. According to him, the main reason of the decline of the Empire was the
renouncement the sharia principles in the state tradition in favour of the rise of the bureaucratic
class. His background explains the origin of his opposition to the Tanzimat regulations: Mahmud
Nedim Pasha, whose father belonged to Naqshbandi-Khalidi order, had Sunni Orthodox Islam
education. During his grand vizierate, he dismissed all the followers of Ali and Fuat Pasha from
their offices and replaced them with his followers. Despite the attempts of Mahmud Nedim
Pasha to nullify Tanzimat regulations, the bureaucracy, which was established and strengthened
by Ali and Fuat Pasha, resisted his policies.
438
Supported by the Sunni Orthodox Islam, anti-
reformist tendencies constituted a base for the pan-Islamist policy of Abdlhamid II in the
following years.



435
Abu Manneh,, 1990, pp. 260-265.
436
Shaw&Shaw, 1998, p. 64.
437
Abu Manneh, pp. 258, 260,-261.
438
Ibid., pp. 263-267.
114

Judicial Reforms
In the pre-modern Ottoman Empire, meveret, "the consultation councils of the Porte"
was crucial by tradition in the decision making process.
439
The most important change in the
judicial system in the Tanzimat era was the replacement of the Consultation Council of the Porte
with Meclis-i Vala-y Ahkam- Adliye, "Supreme Council of Judicial Ordinances" (also known as
Meclis-i Vala, council of justice). It was set up in 1838,
440
but could not work properly until
1841 because of the organization problems during the early years of the Tanzimat. The
establishment of the "Supreme Council of Judicial Ordinances" was a compromise between the
Ottoman meveret tradition and the Western legislature.
441
Meclis-i Vala worked for fifteen years
as the main legislative organ. It was responsible for preparing the Tanzimat regulations and
executing them.
442
In addition to the preparation of Tanzimat laws and regulations, Meclis-i Vala
had also a judicial function: It worked as a special administrative court to adjudicate the
administrative staff when they acted contrary to the Tanzimat regulations.
443
It also became a
unit to execute the new penal code of 1840.
444
The penal code of 1840 reaffirmed the equality of
all the people of the Empire, which was stressed in the Glhane rescript.
445
For example, unfair
collection of the taxes, which was a major problem, was also punished according to the new
penal code of 1840.
446
The decisions of the Meclis-i Vala were published in the official

439
nalck, 1993, p. 12. According to the Islamic sources, meveret, was even an obligation for the sultan. In the
extra-ordinary or emergency cases to share the responsibility viziers, dignitaries, commanders, ulema gathered in
meetings. Ibid.
440
Davison, 1963, p. 28
441
nalck, 1993, p. 13.
442
Meclis-i Vala-y Ahkam- Adliye was founded by the support of Mustafa Resid Pasha in 1838 as a part of the
Tanzimat reforms with the idea that a special unit was needed to organize and apply reforms. It had experienced
some organizational changes, it had been reorganized as ura-y Devlet in 1868. Mehmet Seyitdanlolu, Tanzimat
Devrinde Meclis-i Vala 1838-1868 [Meclis-i Vala During the Tanzimat], (Ankara: TTK, 1994) 35-37, Musa adrc,
Tanzimat Dneminde Anadolu Kentleri'nin Sosyal ve Ekonomik Yaplar [The Social and Economic Structure of
Anatolian Cities during the Tanzimat Period], (Ankara:TTK, 1991) 185-190.
443
Musa adrc, 1991, p. 190; Shaw & Kural Shaw, 1977, p. 78.
444
Ekrem Bura Ekinci,, Osmanl Mahkemeleri, Tanzimat ve Sonras [Ottoman Courts, Tanzimat and After],
(Istanbul: Ar, 2004) 126.
445
Davison, 1963, p. 44.
446
nalck said that Ottoman Archives is full of with registers of 1840 and 1841, about the unfair tax collection of
local administrators and orders for their punishment. nalck, 1964b, p. 630. An example kaime concerning this issue
115

newspaper of the Empire, Takvim-i Vekayi, in order to constitute a warning example for the
others.
447
The mixed courts were established as a result of the 1856 edict, and non-Muslim
testimony against Muslims was accepted in these courts. The religious courts remained although
many of their functions transferred to the new mixed trade courts.


Administrative Reforms
Without administrative reforms it was impossible to conduct economic, social, and
judicial reforms. A significant change was concerned with the provincial government: calling of
the delegates from the provinces to the capital to discuss the administrative conditions and
possible improvements; sending inspectors from the capital to the provinces; and forming a
large provincial council (byk meclis), which was constituted by both Muslim and non-Muslim
representatives under the provincial governor to represent local population.
448
The large
provincial council and "small provincial council" (kk meclis) were founded in the districts
(kaza) in 1840. The former one served both as a unit in order to implement Tanzimat regulations
and as a court to conduct the 1840 penal code with the authority of taking decisions, except for
the crimes of murder and theft, which had to be referred to the capital, to the Meclis-i Vala.
449


in western Anatolia as follows: Mir of Aydn was asked by the center to re-interrogate the petition about the
beaten of Christians and taking of extra taxes from them in Ayaslu district of Aydn Sanca. A.MKT 65/86, 1846
447
adrc, 1991, p. 190. Meclis-i Vala because of the overwhelming load of preparing legislation after fifteen years
began to lose its effective functioning. In addition, the new leaders of the Tanzimat executives Ali and Fuat Pashas
aimed to achieve rapid progress through more effectively functioning institutions. In 1854, because of the political
and administrative reasons the Supreme Council was left only with its judicial duties, that a new legislative body
was formed under the title High Council of Tanzimat," Meclis-i Ali-yi Tanzimat. The duties of the Meclis-i Vala
were transferred to this new body, that now it was responsible from completing and extending the Tanzimat reforms.
Ibid., p. 189; Shaw & Kural Shaw, 1977, p. 78; Davison, 1963, pp. 52-53.
After the formation of the Meclis-i Ali-yi Tanzimat, Meclis-i Vala also continued to work along with it. Meclis-i Ali-
yi Tanzimat continued to work until 1861, then united with the Meclis-i Vala. adrc, 1991, p. 189.
448
Davison, 1963, pp. 48-49; nalck, 1964b, p. 626. It was not unusual for the Ottoman state to have meetings with
the notables in the time of need until the middle of the 19
th
century. This kind of general assembly was a custom and
worked in the Empire in the pre-Tanzimat period, although it was not a representative body with selected delegates
from each province, as created in the Tanzimat period, Davison, 1963, p. 47.
449
nalck, 1964b, pp. 626-627; Byk Meclis worked until 1868, when ura-y Devlet was formed. Ekinci, 2004,
p.130.
116

However, common people could not involve in the large provincial councils and Muslim
officials dominated them. Moreover, old ayans dominated both council under the name of aa ve
vcuh- memleket and the low level administration in many cities and towns. Furthermore, ulema
who were the opponents of the Tanzimat sided with conservative aas in these councils.
450
As
far as the reaction of ecclesiastical authorities of the non-Muslim communities is considered,
they opposed to the reforms since their vakfs were also subjected to new taxes.
451
Not only was
their source of income restricted, but also their social and political authorities among their people
deteriorated, as the non-Muslims had right to benefit from the principle of the rule of law in
equal terms with the Muslims. Large councils, generally, constituted by thirteen members, of
whom seven were state officials (muhassl), his subordinate, two katibs (scribes), kad, mufti,
zaptiye memuru (the police chief), four trustable Muslims, and two kocaba and a metropolid of
the given non-Muslim community in that province.
452
The small councils had five members,
representative of muhassl (vekil), kad, the police chief, one Muslim local notable and the leader
of the largest non-Muslim millet in the given district.
453
The representation of the non-Muslims
was based on an equal basis in the districts, regardless of the proportion of the total population,
the non-Muslims became under-represented in the regions where they constituted majority. They
also had over-representation in the districts where they were out numbered by the Muslims.
454

Muhassls were designed as salaried tax officials, replacing semi-independent tax farmers
(mltezims), to provide direct tax collection. They were appointed by the center with large
authority in order to get rid of abuses and influences of governor of districts and local

450
nalck, 1964b, pp. 635-636.
451
Ibid., p. 632.
452
nalck, 1964b, p. 626; Stanford Shaw, "Local Administration in the Tanzimat," in 150. Ylnda Tanzimat,
[Tanzimat in its 150
th
Year], ed. Hakk Dursun Yldz (Ankara: Atatrk Kltr, Dil ve Tarih Yksek Kurumu, TTK,
1992) 34; Davison, 1963, pp. 48-49.
453
Shaw, 1992, p. 34.
454
Ibid., p.35; nalck, 1964b, p. 633.
117

notables.
455
Sometimes, unequal treatment of the non-Muslim council members by the Muslims
was seen. For example, from a petition of the Rum Patriarchate in 1841 we learn that the
suggestions of the non-Muslim members of the council met with humiliation. As a result of this
petition, Meclis-i Vala sent out an issue warning the Muslim members of these councils to act
respectfully towards the non-Muslim members.
456
Council deputies were treated unequally in the
Syrian provinces between 1840 and 1861. In Syria, influential local Muslim landowners, in
cooperation with the provincial governor, and local non-Muslim notables dominated these
provincial councils, which could not perform their functions to implement the principle of
equality designated initially by the 1839 reform measures.
457

In 1826, when the Janissary corps was abolished, kad lost his means (kolluk kuvvetleri)
to carry out his functions of providing public order and municipal duties. The office of kad was
deteriorated that it became only responsible from the judiciary.
458
For a long period, since the
late 18
th
century, the kad was already not powerful enough to carry out his municipal duties: He
was unable to collect taxes efficiently, inspect the market, and provide public order. In order to
take over these duties ministry of ihtisab
459
(ihtisab nazrl) was founded in the capital in
1826 and "ihtisab directorates" (ihtisab mdrlkleri) were founded in the provinces that ihtisab
nazr
460
replaced economic duties of kad. htisab nazrl was founded to collect taxes
efficiently, to determine just market prices (narh)
461
and enable its proper application and
provide public order, even through coercive means.
462
In the ihtisab system, Mansure soldiers

455
nalck, 1964b, p. 628.
456
Ortayl, 2000, p. 40.
457
Moshe Ma'oz, Ottoman Reform in Syria and Palestine, 1840-1861; The Impact of Tanzimat on Politics and
Society, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968) 198-199.
458
Ortayl, 1979, p. 203.
459
htisab nazrl: Office of superintendent of guilds and markets. Redhouse, Trke-ngilizce Szl [Redhouse,
Trkish-english Dictionary], 13
th
ed., stanbul: Redhouse Yaynevi, 1993.
460
Nazr is used with the meaning "spectator, superintendent" in the phrase ihtisab nazr.
461
Narh: officially fixed market prices. Redhouse, Trke-ngilizce Szl, 13th ed., stanbul: Redhouse Yaynevi,
1993. After Tanzimat narh system was abolished in order to apply principles of liberal economy. Ortayl, 1979, 215.
462
Mbahat Ktkolu, 1826 Dzenlemesinde Sonra zmir htisab Nezareti [zmir htisab Nezareti After the
Regulation of 1826], in zmir Tarihinden Kesitler [Notes from History of zmir], (zmir: zmir Bykehir
118

replaced Janissaries to serve to ihtisab nazr in carrying out his duties.
463
When the police
organization (1845) and gendarme/public security office (zaptiye mirlii) were founded
(1846), the duty of ihtisab nazr was limited to determine only market prices and supervise
tradesmen in the market.
464
Hence, newly founded modern organizations took responsibility of
the public order. In order to strengthen central authority on the provinces, the Sultan also began
to initiate policies for the improvement of the communications through indication of postal
system and construction of roads, although these were limited to the areas closest to the capital.
With the same purpose the first Ottoman official newspaper was launched in 1831, calendar of
events (Takvim-i Vekai). The first Ottoman census was conducted to provide efficient taxation.
Male population of Anatolia and Rumelia were included, while females were excluded.
465

Regarding the centralizing regulations of the Tanzimat, the 1864 Provincial Reform Law
constituted a turning point in the administration of the cities. The 1864 Provincial Law increased
the authority of governors of the vilayets. In doing this, it distributed authority of the central
power to the local governors by increasing authorities of local officials on the social, economic,
security and political matters and assigning the right of execution of the laws to them.
466

However, in reality, this led to the effective administration of the provinces by the center,
because a decentralized order in the Reform Law was balanced by other order which favouring
centralization.
467
Administration of the cities, especially of the port cities, was in chaos during
the Tanzimat period related to the implementation problems of the reform measures. Eastern
Mediterranean port cities, which had close economic relations with commercial centers of
Europe, had to replace the traditional city administration with a more effective and functional

Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2000b) 63-64. Ortayl states that ihtisab nazrl did not become
a useful institution, but instead, a despotic unit. Ortayl, 1979, pp. 203-203; 1985, p. 116.
463
Ktkolu, 2000b, p. 63.
464
Ortayl, 1979, p. 204.
465
Zrcher, 1993, pp. 44-45.
466
Shaw & Shaw, 1988, pp. 88-89; lber Ortayl, Tanzimat'tan Cumhuriyet'e Yerel Ynetim Gelenei [The Tradition
of the Local Administration from the Tanzimat to the Republic], (stanbul: Hil, 1985) 61.
467
Ortayl, 2000, p. 54; lber Ortayl, Trkiye dari Tarihi [Administration History of Turkey], (Ankara: Trkiye ve
Ortadou Amme daresi Enstits, 1971) 290.
119

one in accordance with the needs of transportation and service activities of the 19
th
centurys
economic development.
468
Therefore, first municipalities of the Ottoman Empire were
established in port cities like zmir among them, Salonica and Beirut as a result of the
general reform effort, and of the impact of European influence, which aimed at improvement in
municipal services to facilitate their commercial activity under secure and sanitary conditions.
469

In zmir, too, native and European merchants initiated for the foundation of the municipality,
470

and in 1868 the Municipality of zmir was founded
471
by depending on the 1864 General
Provincial Reform Law, before the issue of the 1877 Municipality Law.
472



Economic Reforms
Mahmud II was very well aware of that a modern army was not enough to control the
large Ottoman domains. The new army cost money on an unprecedented scale. The necessary
revenue was supposed to be gathered through more efficient taxation system, which required
effectively working central bureaucracy. New education system was also needed to provide
efficient cadres for the new army and administrative structure.
473
In order to achieve effective
centralization, Mahmud II not only obtained the support of the ulema, but also curbed its power:
he brought the holdings of the religious foundations (evkaf) under the government control by
establishing a separate directorate (later ministry) of religious foundations and he turned ulema
into a hierarchy headed by eyh l islam.
474
He provided centralizing control over ulema as a

468
Ortayl, 2000, p. 123.
469
Ortayl, 1985, 111-12; Ortayl, 2000, p. 123.
470
Ortayl, 2000 p. 123,
471
Erkan Sere, Tanzimat'tan Cumhuriyet'e zmir'de Belediye 1868-1945 [Municipality in zmir, from the Tanzimat
to the Republic 1868-1945], (zmir: Dokuz Eyll Yaynlar, 1998) 56.
472
Ortayl, 1971, pp. 295-296; Ortayl, 1985, pp. 52-53.
473
Zrcer, 1993, p. 41; Davison, 1963, pp. 6-7; Shaw & Kural Shaw, 1977, p. 35.
474
Zrcher, 1993, p. 42.
120

religious institution, as he did with the army. Hence, he directed vakf revenues, which was the
main source of the income of ulema in pre-Tanzimat, to the treasury of the state.
From 1826 onwards the center attempted to increase state income basically in order to
support military reforms.
475
The decline of the cavalry (sipahi) and replacement of the tmar
system with tax farming system (iltizam) were considered as the main causes of the Ottoman
weakness. Mahmud II abolished the remnants of the old military fief (tmar system) and cavalry
(sipahi) in 1831.
476
In economic terms, the 1839 imperial edict, as the continuation of the policy
of Mahmud II, abolished the tax farming system controlled by semi-independent tax farmers
(mltezims) in order to provide direct taxation and effective central control.
477
Therefore, semi-
independent tax farmers or iltizam holders (mltezim) were replaced by salaried tax collectors
(muhassl). The Ottoman center appointed them and they supposed to return all the collected
taxes to state treasury.
478
Whereas, implementation of this system became a problem in the
country side, since both there were no enough educated bureaucrats to be appointed as muhassl
and the available ones were not willing to become muhassl, because it was not very
profitable.
479
The state treasury revenues decreased already sharply between 1839-1840 and 1841
both because of the inability in the collection of taxes and the already ended destructive war with

475
More and more revenue was diverted to the treasury created for the army (mansure hazinesi) by the revenues of
tax farms. Religious foundations were also brought under the government control, and new taxes were introduced
with this purpose, like 'holy war taxes', (rsmat- cihadiyye). The basic idea in the Ottoman Reforms was to
increase government income to initiate military reform. For this aim, initially, Selim III formed the "New Treasury,"
(1793), rad- Cedid - in addition to the Old Treasury- to finance Nizam- Cedid Army through controlling tax farms
which used to be controlled by the Old Yreasury. J Shaw and Kural Shaw, 1977, pp. 20, 37, 42-43.
476
Lewis, 1961, pp. 89-90.
477
"Tax assessment is also one of the most important matters to regulate. A state, for the defense of its territory,
manifestly needs to maintain an army and provide other services, the costs of which can be defrayed only by taxes
levied on its subjects. Although thank God, our Empire had already been relieved of the affliction of monopolies, he
harmful practice of tax farming (iltizam), which never yielded any fruitful results, still prevails. This amounts to
handing over the financial and political affairs of a country to the whims of an ordinary man and perhaps to the
grasp of force and oppression, for if the tax farmer is not of good character he will be interested only his own profit
and will behave oppressively. It is therefore necessary that from now on every subject of the Empire should be taxed
according to his fortune and his means, and that he should be saved from and further exaction. It is also necessary
that special laws should fix and limit the expenses of our land and sea forces." Hurewitz, 1975, p. 270.
478
Shaw, 1992, p. 33, The nineteenth Century Ottoman Tax Reforms and Revenue System," IJMES, v.6, 1-4, 1975,
p. 422; nalck, 1964b, pp. 625-626; Ortayl, 2000, p.32.
479
Shaw, 1975, p. 422.
121

Mehmed Ali Pasha of Egypt.
480
Moreover, when the iltizam system was abolished the financial
system of the Empire became into chaos. Mustafa Reit Pashas measures to cope with this
financial crisis annoyed self-interested groups, like mltezims, voyvodas and sarrafs that their
income and exploiting ways were closed by the abolishment of iltizam system. Benefiting from
this chaos in the system and financial crisis, opponents of Mustafa Reid Pasha played crucial
role in manipulating the sultan to dismiss the Mustafa Reid Paa.
481
As a result, state had to
restore the old iltizam, tax farming system, by giving two years permission for the collection of
the taxes in the specific mukata'as to those who promised for the highest amount return to the
state.
482
Since muhassls were working independent of each other, it took very long time to return
the taxes to the treasury. Moreover, muhassls were selected from the people who were close to
old mltezims. Hence, both old mltezims, land owners and muhassls acted in cooperation and
favoured their self interests. They did not obeyed to the rule of law in collection of the taxes.
483

Hence, the muhassllk system, which was designated in the Glhane Rescript to find a solution
to the problems of the iltizam system, had to be removed.
484
Since the state could not succeed to
eliminate the old tax farming system, it had to re-stress the abolition of it and direct taxation
methods in 1856 edict, like the abolition of bribery and other abuses.
485
Indeed, the basic
purpose of the Tanzimat regulations about the taxation was declared prior to the 1839 edict. An
imperial order stated in 1828 the abolition of the all traditional taxes imposed in the name of
sharia, with the exception of the sheep tax (anam resmi) and the head tax of the non-Muslims

480
nalck, 1964b, 637; adrc, 1991, p. 210.
481
nalck, 1964b, pp. 632, 637.
482
Shaw, 1975, p. 422.
483
adrc, 1991, pp. 210-211; nalck, 1964b, p. 630.
484
Shaw, 1975, pp. 422-423; adrc, 1991, p. 211; Ortayl, 2000, pp. 32-33.
485
...The taxes are to be levied under the same denomination from all the subjects of my empire, without distinction
of class or of religion. The most prompt and energetic means for remedying the abuses in collecting the taxes, and
especially the tithes, shall be considered. The system of direct collections shall, gradually, and as soon as possible,
be substituted for the plan of farming, in all the branches of the revenues of the state. As long as the present system
remains in force all agents of the government and all members of the meclis shall be forbidden under the severest
penalties..., Islahat Ferman, 18 February 1856, in Hurewitz, 1975, p. 318.
122

(cizye).
486
The regulation about the head tax was a significant point in the tax reform that the
non-Muslims were most interested in. The head tax was imposed on the non-Muslims of the
Empire in accordance with the zimmi pact of Islamic law for their protection. In the traditional
system of collection of the head tax, the tax farmers (mltezim) or collector of head taxes
(cizyedar) performed this duty. However, they were taking additional illegal taxes under various
names. Therefore, with the promulgation of Tanzimat, the collection of the head tax was
organized according to maktu' system: The amount of the tax was to be determined by the state,
and sent to the muhassls, who would inform kocaba to collect this amount. This amount was
classified into three types rich, intermediate, poor (a'la, evsat, edna) according to the ability to
pay and wealth.
487
Hence, non-elimination of the head tax was the point that was criticized most
by the European states, regarding the equality of the non-Muslims in all spheres. Finally, the
Ottoman state declared the abolishment of the head tax completely in the 1856 reform edict.
Thus, non-Muslim subjects became eligible for the military service, and the state replaced it with
exemption tax of military service (bedel-i askeri).
488

Registration of different taxes under the name of temett or profit tax was another
reorganization of the Tanzimat. Merchants and artisans were subjected to temett tax according
to their ability to pay. Muhassls were responsible to collect it.
489
Only head of the households
and male members of their family were registered in the temett notebooks. They include
detailed demographic information of the given town number of household and children, type of
the professions and number and value of the real estates, like agricultural land, gardens,
animals, houses and shops, and the amount of the tax paid by each household.
490
The inability to
implement the financial measures of the Glhane Rescript shows the lack of qualified

486
Shaw, 1975, p. 422.
487
nalck, 1964b, p. 631.
488
Ibid., p. 632; Lewis, 1961, p. 114; Davison, 1963, p. 53.
489
Mbahat Ktkolu, "Osmanl Sosyal ve ktisadi Tarihi Kaynaklarndan Temett Defterleri," Belleten, v.225, n.
59, 1995, pp. 394, 397; Shaw, 1975, p. 422.
490
Ktkolu, 1995.
123

bureaucrats and the power of the well-entrenched traditional institutions of the Empire. As a
result, none of the new regulations could be the cure for the economic crisis of the Empire which
reached its peak after the Crimean War (1853-1856).


Social Reforms
In roughly speaking, there were basically four millets in the Ottoman Empire defined
according to their religious affiliations: the Orthodox Christian, Latin Catholic, Jewish and
Muslim, and Protestant after 1837. Broadly speaking, millet meant a religiously defined people.
The usage of the term millet is a well debated subject in the Ottoman historiography: whether the
term millet denotes an autonomous protected community of the non-Muslim Ottoman
communities, dhimmis or zimmis, in all periods of the Ottoman Empire or not. Scholarly
studies
491
demonstrated that term millet prior to the reform era of the Tanzimat-1839, was very
rarely and unusually used to refer to the non-Muslims, but the term millet meant all religiously
defined communities including the Muslims.
492
The term millet started to be referred to the non-
Muslims in the official language of the Ottoman Empire in the 19
th
century with the reforming
decrees of Mahmud II and Abdlmecid.
493
The millet system emphasized the universality of the
faith and replaced ethnic and language differences without destroying them.
494
The millet system

491
Braude, 1982, pp. 69-88; Paraskevas Konartas, From Taife to Millet: Ottoman Terms for the Ottoman Greek
Orthodox Greek Community, in Ottoman Greeks in the Age of Nationalism eds. Charles Issawi and Dimitri
Gondicas, (The Darwin Press: Princeton, New Jersey, 1999) 169-179; Amnon Cohen, "On the Realities of the Millet
System," in Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, v. I, in Braude and Lewis, v. II, 1982, pp. 7-19; Bruce
Masters, Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World: the roots of Sectarianism, (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press), 2001; Kemal Karpat, An Inquiry into the Social Foundations of Nationalism in the Ottoman State.
From Social Estates to Classes, From Millets to Nations, (Princeton: The Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton
University) 1973; Roderic Davison, Nationalism as an Ottoman Problem and the Ottoman Response in
Nationalism in a Non-National State, eds. W.W. Haddad and W. Ochsenwald (Colombus, 1977).
492
In the pre-Tanzimat period Ottoman documents, during the first period the Ottoman rule they were called taifes
(groups), Nasrani (Nazoreans means Christians) in the 15
th
century, Kefere (means infidels) 16
th
-17
th
centuries,
which transformed into Rum milleti in the 18
th
century, Konartas, 1999; Braude, 1982; Masters, 2001.
493
Braude, 1982, p. 73.
494
Karpat, 1982, p. 143.
124

was a socio-cultural and communal framework, firstly, based on religion and secondly, on
ethnicity which reflected linguistic differences. Religion supplied each community with a
universal belief system, while ethnic and linguistic differences provided for divisions and
subdivisions. Thus, the close affinity between religion and ethnicity was the landmark of the
group identity in the Ottoman Empire.
495
Ironically, in spite of the attempts to create a sense of
Ottomanism, Orthodox and non-Orthodox Christians all came to recognize their ethnic-cultural-
linguistic differences as their differentiating identities. The relationship between ethnicity and
religion was highly fluid in the Ottoman Empire, that religious identity itself becomes
ethnicized.
496
In the pre-Tanzimat old millet system, social structure depended on unexpressed
differentiation in terms of Muslim and non-Muslim communities.
497
This differentiation in the
Ottoman society in the pre-Tanzimat era was maintained through various mechanisms.
498
The
common Muslim view of the non-Muslims can be summed up with the term "infidel" (gavur),
which implied the Muslim superiority.
499
However, the usage of this derogatory epithet for the
non-Muslims were forbidden long before the Tanzimat era: At the end of the 18
th
century, some
Ottoman statesmen had realized the importance of satisfying some demands of the Christians to
prevent the revolts, that was mentioned in the memorandum (layiha) of Kadasker Tatarck
Abdullah Efendi to Selim III. In this layiha besides the need for the military reform, he also

495
Ibid, p. 142.
496
Roshweld, 2001, pp. 28-33.
497
This system of differentiation did not mean that Muslim subjects of the Empire lived apart in sharply divided and
mutually impenetrable spatial areas, unlike Eurocentric historiography of the Ottoman Empire argued. For the urban
organization of zmir city see section 2.2. For example, Bernard Lewis noted that one of the main characteristics of
the Turkish Islam was the strict social segregation. Although the Ottoman Empire was tolerant towards its Jewish
and Christian communities, in accordance with the Islamic law, it favoured social segregation of the non-Muslim
communities from the Muslims. Non-Muslims were unable to mix with the Muslims. Bernard Lewis, 1961, pp. 14-
15.
498
Clothing law was applied, by which religious community had to wear different attire with different color and had
its own court, judge and legal principles. Muslim court remained superior to their courts, since Islam as a religion
was accepted superior to Christianity. And, Christian testimony was not accepted against a Muslim in the Islamic
court, they were not allowed to carry guns and to ride horse among the Muslims, which were formally abolished by
the 1839 and 1856 charters. In the pre-Tanzimat era, non-Muslims were seen as second class people in that their
religion was accepted inferior to Islam, since it had only partial revelation of the divine rule. Another reason for their
subordinate position was that they were the conquered people in the Ottoman land. Davison, 1990, p. 120; Davison,
1963, p. 65.
499
Davison, 1990, p. 120.
125

commented on the social unrest of the non-Muslim subjects of the empire.
500
Moreover, in 1804,
Mustafa Alemdar Pasha, who held an influential political power in the Ottoman Empire between
the reign of Selim III and early days of Mahmud II, forbid the use of the term gavur for the
Christians, since any Christian served to the same God with the Muslims.
501
However, in legal
terms, the 1839 Glhane and the 1856 imperial rescripts were perceived then and now as
proclamations of equality of Ottoman citizenship before the law.
The 1856 reform edict was more detailed in elaborating the principle of equality and
announced complete abolition of the system of differentiation, millet system, and Muslim
superiority. It not only reconfirmed promises of the 1839 edict on the equality of the non-Muslim
subjects, but also attempted to provide a base for a common citizenship with the notion of
Ottomanism for all people of the Empire regardless of religion and ethnicity.
502
As a result,
development of autonomous confessional communities coexisted with the official policy of
egalitarian Ottomanism and centralization so that a new period began in the Ottoman Empire. In
addition to zmir, some other Ottoman cities, like Beirut, Aleppo, Tripoli, and Thessaloniki also
underwent significant transformations during the Tanzimat and Hamidian periods. As this study
will demonstrate, zmir had strong relations with the center during the Tanzimat period;
interactive communal relations and urban locality of the city were consolidated during the
centralizing reforms. Intercommunal relations in the special setting of zmir in the Tanzimat
were just as important to the citys development as the question of center-periphery politics. The
Porte attempted to integrate its peripheries into the center in the Tanzimat period. The nature of
the relation between the center and periphery, and the influence of the Tanzimat reforms on
zmirs multi-ethno-religious society will be examined in the following chapter, after a brief
description of the impact of the Greek revolt on urban life.

500
Safrastjan, 1988, p. 73.
501
Ibid., pp. 73-74.
502
Davison, 1963, p. 56.
126
Chapter 4. The Greek Revolt and Change
The Impact of the Greek Revolt
The Ottoman Empire was confronted by many external and internal problems during the
Greek revolt (1821-1830): the invasion of Egypt by Napoleon in 1798, which was followed by
Mehmed Ali Pasha's semi-independent rule and successful reforms in Egypt; later, the threat of
Mehmed Ali Pasha to occupy the capital and inner Anatolia; growing Wahabbi power in Arabia;
the Serbian revolt (1805), which ended with semi-autonomy of Serbia, then full autonomy of
Serbia (1830);
503
and the recurrent wars with Russia (1768-74, 1787-1792, 1806-12, 1828-29 ),
the Eastern Question (how to share dissolving Ottoman Empire among the big Western powers
and Russia); growing political and economic power of land notables (ayan), which was a clear
indication of the weakness of the central authority; and finally the collapse of the Ottoman
economy which manifested itself by the end of the 18
th
century. When came to the throne, sultan
Mahmud II (r.1808-1839) inherited all these problems. The immediate aim of the Sultan was to
restore centralization to provide social order and prevent territorial losses of the empire. The first
step in this process was to nullify the "Document of Agreement" (Sened-i ttifak) of 1808, which
was ratified by the Ottoman state -not Sultan in person- and local land notables. Sened-i ttifak
was a significant document that for the first time a group outside bureaucracy demanded
restrictive power over the authority of the Ottoman sultan. In the document, local notables
expressed their loyalty to the sultan and support for military reforms, and promised to defend
him against any rebellion. However, both parties also agreed that the taxes would be justly

503
Before the Greek revolt of 1821, the Serbian revolt broke out in 1804 against the oppression of the Janissaries
during the reign of Selim III (1789-1807). Especially, the massacre of Serbian notables by the Janissaries led to a
reaction in the province and echoed in Europe. When Mahmud II mounted the throne, the Serbian forces were able
to maintain control of the Serbian countryside. In 1815 Mahmud II issued a ferman confirming the semi-autonomy
of Serbia. Full autonomy was reached during the reign of Mahmud II as well, in 1830, through continual Russian
diplomatic pressure on the Porte as the protector of the entire Orthodox Christian subjects of the Empire since the
1774 Kk Kaynarca Treaty. Roderic Davison, Reform in the Ottoman Empire, (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1963) 25; Erik J. Zrcher, Turkey, A Modern History, (London, New York: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 1993), pp.
33-41.
127

imposed by the state and collected by the local notables.
504
As it will be discussed in the below,
another immediate action of Mahmud II was to re-store social order through providing loyalty of
Orthodox Christians in the Balkans. In this context, the Greek revolt (1821-1830) played a
crucial role in the political transformation of the Ottoman Empire. It negatively affected states
perception of its non-Muslim subjects. It caused Mahmud II to establish strict categories of loyal
and disloyal subjects in his mind, and the elimination of disloyalty became the main aim of the
Sultan. Moreover, this caused also to the mobilization of the Muslim public opinion against the
disloyal subjects
505
and shaped the nature of the centralizing Ottoman reforms. However, in
evaluating Mahmud IIs reaction against the Greek revolt, in the first place, the social statuses of
the non-Muslim subjects in the Ottoman Empire should be considered. It was organized by the
principle of Islamic doctrine: In social terms, Ottoman community was made up according to
Muslim and non-Muslim division. In this system Muslims were privileged and non-Muslims
were protected subjects of the Empire as people of the book, zimmis.
506
Before the Tanzimat
(1839-1876) the social structure of the Ottoman Empire depended on the millet
507
(community)
system in which non-Muslims or zimmis were considered as religiously defined members of a

504
Halil nalck, Sened-i ttifak ve Glhane Hatt- Hmayunu, Belleten XXVIII:112, pp. 603-621, 1964a, pp.
604-606; Zrcher, 1993, p. 31. nalck stated that when Mahmud II eliminated local notables and invalidated the
Document of Agreement, there was not any power to restrict his authority that a period of autocracy had began.
However, according to nalck, if Mahmud II did not restore political power in his hands, this would lead to division
of Anatolia under separate local Muslim principalities as it happened in the 14th century, therefore Mahmud II's
centralized and authoritarian attitude prevented to abolish the Turkish unity in Anatolia. Halil nalck, 1964a, p. 608-
609.
505
Hakan Erdem, Do Not Think of the Greeks as Agricultural Labourers: Ottoman Responses to the Greek War
of Independence, in Citizenship and the Nation-State in Greece and Turkey, eds Thalia G. Dragonas and Faruk
Birtek, (London: Routledge, 2005) 75-78.
506
Ottoman Empire inherited concept of dhimma from Islamic doctrine and applied it to its non-Muslim subjects. In
the Ottoman Empire non-Muslims were regarded as "the people of the book", who received revelation of God before
prophet Muhammed. Thus, they have Gods message and religion but incompletely, therefore they are inherently
inferior to Muslims.
507
About the definition and usage of the term millet there are various views in the Ottoman scholarship, Benjamin
Braude discuss these arguments in his Foundation Myths of the Millet System in Christians and Jews in the
Ottoman Empire, ed. Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis, (New York, London: Holmes & Miller Publishers Inc.
1982). He argues that the term millet prior to 1889 is very rarely and unusually used to refer to non-Muslims. In his
study on registers and dictionaries of the period before the 19
th
century the terms millet did not occur to mean non-
Muslims. The term millet which referred to non-Muslims started to be used in the 19
th
century in the official
language of the Ottoman Empire. Braude, 1982, p. 73. In this very preliminary summary, the term millet will be
used to refer to the non-Muslim communities of the Ottoman Empire in the 19
th
century.
128

community, but not as individuals.
508
Having largely depended on tolerance and protection of the
non-Muslim subjects, the millet system granted them autonomy in their private matters.
509
It was
the sultan's traditional main duty to preserve order, nizam, and to prevent disorder by using every
possible means. According to the Ottoman sultan, the rebellious Ottoman Greeks in Morea
abolished the zimmi pact, which regulated their relationship with the state since 15
th
century. In
this Ottoman ideology, neither the Serbian revolt (1804) nor or the Greek revolt in Morea and
Aegean islands (1821) could not be tolerated. Furthermore, not only non-Muslims revolt, but
also any kind of revolt including the Muslims cannot be tolerated in the empire. The supression
of revolts of the Kurds, Albanians, and Arabs in the 1840s is a good indication of the sultans
firm attitude in the face of a revolt.
510

The Greek revolt became an international issue among the European states and resulted
in the foundation of an independent Greek Kingdom in 1830 with the support of Britain, France
and Russia. The first Greek revolt, which was initiated by the leadership of Alexander Ipsilanti,
broke out in Walachia and Moldavia in 6 March 1821, and it was suppressed.
511
But, the
organized Greek revolt in Morea officially began in 17 March 1821, and spread to the Aegean
islands -Cyprus, Chios, Samos, stanky- and Crete as well.
512
The coastline of western Anatolia
became open to the attacks of Greek bandit ships (ekiya tekneleri, which were called as izbandit

508
Braude, 1982, p. 69.
509
Lewis, 1961, p. 105.
510
Virginia H. Aksan, Ottoman Wars 1700-1870, an Empire Besieged, (Harlow, England: Longman, 2007) pp. 385-
377, 418-20, 366-67.
511
Stanford & Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, v.2, (Cambridge, New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1977) 17; Mbahat Ktkolu, Yunan syan Srasnda Anadolu ve Adalar
Rumlarnn Tutumlar ve Sonular, in Tarih Boyunca Trk-Yunan likileri, nc Askeri Tarih Semineri
Bildiriler, (Ankara: Genel Kurmay Basmevi, 1986), 133; Zeki Arkan, Ayvalk syan, Belleten, v. 52, n. 203,
1988, pp. 574-575. Before Hakan Erdems study about the Greek revolt, Do Not Think of the Greeks as
Agricultural Labourers: Ottoman Responses to the Greek War of Independence, in Citizenship and the Nation-
State in Greece and Turkey, eds Thalia G. Dragonas and Faruk Birtek, (London: Routledge, 2005) 67-84. Mbahat
Ktkolu in 1986 and Zeki Arkan in 1988 dealt with the issue of the Greek revolt through largely exploring
Ottoman archieves. Mbahat Ktkolu, specifically uncovered the policies of Mahmud II during the revolt in the
Western Anatolia and the Aegean islands through Hatt- Hmayuns, hkms (imperial orders) in Mhimme
Notebooks and Maliyeden Mdever Defterler, and tezkires (memorial) in Cevdet Maliye classifications in the
Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieves in stanbul.
512
Ktkolu, 1986, pp. 133-161.
129

in the documents).
513
Attacking the coastline of western Anatolia, they killed Muslims, and
attempted to instigate Ottoman Greeks to rebel and support the revolt in Morea.
514
This
threatened the general order in the Empire, especially in the areas where Greek subjects mostly
settled. The harsh reaction of the Ottoman state against Greek rebels, especially massacres of the
civilian population in Chios
515
shocked European states.
516
In Chios the metropolitans and
representatives of villages, total 63 people, had been executed in the castle by obeying to the
imperial rescript (irade-i seniyye).
517
In the following days 500 slaughtered heads and about 1000
ears were sent to the capital.
518
On 4 November 1821, the commander of Chios, Vahid Pasha,
informed the Sultan about his victory over the infidels and wrote that victorious soldiers had
taken booty and slaves in quantities never seen and heard of before.
519
Mahmud II perceived the
Greek revolt as instigation (fitne) and a revolt against the state, instead of rising of an
independent Christian nation.
520
According to the Ottoman Sultan, the Greek subjects violated
the zimmi pact through which they lived in security in the Empire for centuries. Therefore, at the
beginning of the revolt, state declared warfare and employed the traditional means of
suppression, like the use of the Janissaries, killing of the rebels and confiscating their properties
through issuing imperial orders. When first heard the Greek revolt, Mahmud II ordered the
execution of the all Ottoman Greek subjects, so that the fetva of 24 Receb 1236 (26 April 1821)
was issued. In the fetva it was mentioned that the principle of harbi (warfare situation) would
be applied, that the rebels would be killed, their properties would be taken as booty, and women

513
Arkan, 1988, p. 577
514
Ibid., pp.577-578; Ktkolu, 1986, pp. 134-136.
515
Ktkolu, 1986; Erdem, 2005.
516
George Rolleston, Report on Smyrna, (London: George Eyre & William Spotwoode for HM Stationers Office,
1856) 144, 147; Donald Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2001) 68.
517
Ktkolu, 1986, pp. 142. The list of the executed Greeks is available in the BOA, HH, n. 38209-A, 13 aban
1237 (5 Mays 1822), in ibid. FN. 58.
518
Ibid., p. 143, HH, n. 38209-D, in ibid FN. 59
519
BOA, HH, n. 24277, 6 Safer 1237 (4 November 1821) in Erdem, 2005, p. 69.
520
Virginia Aksan, he Ottoman Military and State Transformation in a Globalizing World, Comparative Studies
of South Asia and Middle East, v.27, n.2, 2007, p. 26
130

and children would be considered as prisoners of war.
521
However, in a short time, some
statesmen, the patriarch and some metropolitans interfered and convinced the Sultan to forgive
the innocent Greek subjects so that an irade was issued stressing that no harm would be made to
the innocent reaya.
522
However, the state not only punished rebels through executing them,
confiscating their properties, exiling, but also took some precautions through gathering their guns
and arms from their houses, controlling of the navigating ships through the Bosporus regardless
of their flags, and making compulsory for the Greeks to have a memorial (tezkire) to be able to
travel within the Empire freely.
523
The first harsh reaction of the state against the Greek revolt
was hanging the Patriarch Gregorios V on 10 April 1821, which was the Easter day of the
Orthodox Christians.
524
This action also aimed to provide a warning example for all the Greek
subjects of the Empire. Moreover, the death penalty was imposed on the rebels and on the ones
who attempted to instigate the Greek community in all over the Empire. It was legalized in
Islamic terms with the fetva of 24 Receb 1236 (26 April 1821).
525
The Greek subjects in the

521
Arkan, 1988, p.576. Rum taife-i erifesinin hasabet encamlar her taraftan davranub mazallahutaala millet-i
Muhammediyeyi ayaklar altna almak ve ellerinden gelr ise klliyen ortadan kaldurmak zre mttehid ve mttefik
olduklar imdi tebeyyn etmi ve mukaddeme-i hyanetleri bu vechle zuhur eylemi olmaktan nai bunca nan ve
nimi saltanat- seniyyemle perverde olan ehl-i zimmet reayann bu surete cesaretleri resm-i raiyete minkllil vcuh
mnafi ve o misll usat harbi kefere hkmnde olarak haklarnda muamelesinin icras lazm geld bedihi
olduuna mebni keyfiyet canib-i eriat- garradan istifa olundukta biad- slamiyyeden bir beldede mtemekkin olan
zimmiler itaatl-emirden bilklliye huru ve muharebeye tasaddi ve nice ehl-i slami katl ile muharip olduklar
zahir olsa ol taife hakkndaharbi ahkam caiz olmala taife-i mersume ile mukatele ve muharebe olunub emvalleri
ganimet ve nisvan ve sebilleri seby ve istirkak eran caiz olur mu? El cevab: Olur, dey fetva-y erife verilmi ve
mucibince ol makule isyan eden reayann evlad ve iyalleri seby ve istirkak ile mallar itinam olunmas hususuna
ruhsat havi taraf evamir-i celile-i padiahanem ner ve tisyar olunmu olmala bu vakit bir dakika ve bir an
tevakkuf ve aram edecek gnler olmadn bilb vusul-i emr-i erifimde kang mahalde bulunur isen heman der-an
saat hareket ve iki kona bir ederek bir an akdem ve bir dakika mukaddem BOA, Mhimme Defteri, n. 239, p.
47 quoted in Arkan, 1988, p. 576, FN. 22..
522
Benim vezirim salb ve siyaset olunan papaslardan maada millet-i Rumdan bu fesadda methali olan saireleri dahi
gzelce tecesss olunarak siyaset olunub madde-i fesada vakf olmayan esnaf ve aceze makulelerinin dahi
alverileriyle megul olmalar in, BOA, Hatt Hmayun (HH) classification, n. 17530, quoted Zeki Arkan,
1988, p. 576, FN. 23.
523
Ktkolu, 1986, pp. 142-148.
524
Orhan Trker, Fanariden Fenere, Bir Hali Hikayesi, [From Phanari to Pahanar, A Story of The Golden Hore],
(stanbul: Sel Yaynclk, 2001) 30-34; Ktkolu, 1986, p. 142; Yzel zkaya, 1821 Yunan (Eflak-Budan)
syanlar ve Avrupallarn syan Karsndaki Tutumlar, [1821 Greek, Wallachia and Moldavia revolts and The
Attitudes of the Europeans Towards Them] in Tarih Boyunca Trk-Yunan likileri, nc Askeri Tarih Semineri
Bildiriler, [Turkish-Greek Relations Throughout History, Third Military Seminar Papers], (Ankara: Genel Kurmay
Basmevi, 1986) 121-122.
525
Ktkolu, 1986, p. 142.
131

governmental service, who were suspicious about supporting the revolt, were also killed, like the
translator of the Porte, Yanko, his scriber, strefanaki, ukadar, and the moneychanger of the
Imperial Mint (Darbhane-i Amire ceyb-i hmayun sarraf).
526
The Egyptian commander Hseyin
Pasha executed some 400 and enslaved more than 3000 in Crete.
527
However, Grand Vezir Hac
Salih Pasha informed the Sultan about the illegal enslavement of the Greek subjects.
528
Not only
in the rebellious regions, but also in the non-rebellious regions, such as Gelibolu and anakkale,
the innocent harmless Greek subjects were exposed to illegal plundering and enslavement by the
Ottoman soldiers. Condemnation of the Grand Vezir for illegal actions of the marines in
Gelibolu and anakkale did not save harmless Ottoman Greeks.
529
Physical repression of the
rebels was still continuing in 1826. In the same year the Governor General of Rumelia Reid
Mehmed Pasha wrote to the center that while most of the male were put to the sword, women
and children were enslaved.
530
Implementing the physical repression, the state not only aimed to
repress the revolt, but also to make the Ottoman Greeks to re-perceive and accept their statuses
in the Empire as zimmis.
531
Nevertheless, Mahmud II could not understand the fact that some of
the Greek subjects (reaya) did not want to become zimmis again.
532
It seems that Mahmud II
could not realize historical background and intellectual reasons of the separatist movements of
the Balkans, which were affected by the tenets of the French Revolution and Enlightenment.
533


526
Ibid, pp. 142, 145.
527
BOA, HH, n. 38285, 11 Rebiyyl-evvel 1239, (16 November 1823) in Erdem, 2005, p. 70, FN.7.
528
Erdem, 2005, p. 70. The soldiers without title deeds called pencik were not allowed for taking slaves. These
soldiers, who enslaved Greek subjects, had to prove to the state that they had paid the tax due and thus enslaved
them legally. However this was not the case. Therefore, Hac Salih Pasha attempted to interfere to cease the illegal
enslavement of the Greek subjects, like taking the issue to the consultative consul and asking a ferman or fetva in
order to prevent these illegal actions. Ibid.
529
Ibid., p. 71.
530
Ibid., p. 69, Reid Mehmeds letter, FN. 5. Mehmed Reid Pasha mentioned the number of the slained as 2750 in
his detalied report. BOA, HH, n.38314, 21 Ramazan 1241-30 April 1826, in ibid, FN. 6.
531
Erdem, 2005, p. 72.
532
Ibid., p. 73.
533
The main reason of the Balkan separatists movement was explained by the concepts of national awakening or
ethnic awakening by Kemal Karpat. Kemal Karpat, An Inquiry into the Social Foundations of Nationalism in
Ottoman State, (Princeton: The Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, 1973), Millets and Nationality:
The Roots of the Incongruity of Nation and State in the Post-Ottoman Era, in Christians and Jews in the Ottoman
Empire: The Functioning of a Plural Society, eds. B. Braude and B. Lewis, v. I, The Central Lands (New York and
132

He saw them as a fitne of the non-Muslims against the state that obeyed the zimmi pact for
centuries in favor of the non-Muslims. One example for the perception of the Ottoman state of
the Greek revolt is seen in an archival notebook titled with Rum Fesadna Dair (1823), (About
the Greek Intrigue. The name of the notebook alone, in fact, is a good clue of the perception of
the Ottoman state of the Greek issue: it was malice" (fesad) towards the state and was not an
independence war, as the Greeks called it. In this notebook, the Porte informed and strictly
warned the local governors of the districts along the Aegean coastline about the possible attacks
of the Greek bandits.
534
It also ordered that new military recruits should be made from Rumelia
and Aydn Province, because the available Ottoman soldiers rebelled in Chios Island, even
though their salaries were paid.
535

Although it was difficult to differentiate the loyal and disloyal Greeks in the Empire,
there was no unity among the Greeks of the Empire regarding their approach to the Greek revolt
in Morea. Mahmud II dismissed almost all the Greeks from bureaucracy. This facilitated the rise
of Armenians in bureaucracy.
536
However, some prominent Greek families continued to establish
themselves in influential positions as civil servants and diplomats.
537
As the Greek revolt could
not be suppressed efficiently and European states began to intervene in favor of the foundation of
an independent Greek state, Mahmud II issued a manifesto in 1827 to the all diplomatic

London: Holmes and Meier, 1983) 141-169. According to Paschalis Kitromilides it was not an awakening but
cultivation of ethnic consciousness in that the Greek intelligentsia cultivated ethnic consciousness, which gained
national character by the formation of modern state. Paschalis Kitromilides, "Imagined Communities and the Origins
of the National Question in the Balkans, European History Quarterly, n. 19, 1989, 160. Roderic Davison also
explains the motives behind the "Balkan separatist movements through assumptions of modern nationalism.
According to Davison, those movements had a national ferment in it, which could not be comprehended by the
Ottoman sultans. Roderic Davison, Nationalism in a non-National State, in Nationalism in a Non-National State
eds. W. Addad and W. Ochsenwald (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1977) 38.
534
Babakanlk Osmanl Arivi (BOA), Rum Fesad'na Dair, 7.9.1823-31.1.1824, Ayniyat Defterleri, n. 1713, pp.,
62, 91, 82. In this notebook, which was written before the Tanzimat, we see that the state freely used the term gavur
for the Greek rebelllions.
535
Ibid., p. 62. The usage of the terms ekiya, brigands, and eterya committees can also be seen in some other
official state documents in the 1850s in the Irade-Hariciye section of the Basbakanlik Osmanli Arsivi. Ortayl, 1999,
p. 165, FN. 17.
536
Charles Issawi, Introduction, in Greeks in the Age of Nationalism, eds. Charles Issawi & Dimitri Gondicas,
(Princeton, New Jersey: The Darwin Press, 1999) p. 3.
537
Alexis Alexandris, The Greek Minority of Istanbul and Greek and Turkish Relations 1918-1974, Athens: Centre
for Asia Minor Studies, 1992) 28.
133

representatives rejecting any kind of international intervention or mediation, and stressed the
Ottoman concept of sovereignty.
538
After Navarin defeat of the Ottomans (20 October 1827),
before the beginning of the war with Russia, Mahmud II declared cihad (holy war) on 20
December 1827 to justify another war with Russia.
539
Moreover, he also wanted to provide
support of the Muslims in every possible term by accentuating cihad as being obligation for all
of them. He called all the Muslims to unite their hearts for the sake of cihad and gaza.
540
This
declaration of cihad attempted to provide sense of us as Muslims against disloyal non-
Muslims.
541

As a result, the Greek revolt affected the Ottoman political thought, which was reflected
in the 1839 imperial edict. The 1839 reform edict was prepared basically by Ottoman ulema and
to some extent by the involvement of Ottoman bureaucrats during the reign of Mahmud II. It
stressed the Ottoman concept of sovereignty by depending on the significance of returning to
original sharia principles. The sensibility of Mahmud II about sovereignty of the Ottoman sultan
was reflected itself in the 1839 edict. Being under the influence of the non-Muslim revolts in the
Balkans, Mahmud II not only obsessed with the enforcement of the absolute central authority of
the Ottoman sultan through foundation of a new army, but also developed a suspicious attitude
towards the non-Muslim subjects of the Empire. This Christian disloyalty resulted in reassertion
of Ottoman-Muslim absolutism under the rule of Mahmud II. He began to replace both military
and administrative cadres with Turkish-Muslims.
542

Further to this point of the perception of the Ottoman Greeks by the state, we should
consider the background of the impact of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddi lodges (tekkes) upon the
ruling elite and the growing impact of Sunni-Orthodox trend on the Ottoman sultans in the 19
th


538
Ibid.
539
Aksan, he Ottoman Military and State Transformation in a Globalizing World, , 2007, p. 15.
540
BOA, Hatt Hmayun, n. 51356, 1240-1828 in Erdem, 2005, p. 77, FN. 27.
541
Erdem, 2005, pp. 81-82.
542
Aksan, he Ottoman Military and State Transformation in a Globalizing World, 2007, pp.14, 19, 30.
134

century.
543
For example, the Bektashis did not commit any act to require their abolishment
because of the long association with the Janissaries. Hence, the impact of the Sunni-Orthodox
trend and its great influence on government circles should be considered in examining the
development of the intolerant attitude of the Ottoman state both towards the Bektashis and non-
Muslims.
544
Growing influence of the Sunni-Orthodox trend might be considered as one of the
factors which shaped the mentality of the Ottoman sultans and public aftermath of the Greek
revolt.
The measures of Mahmud II were the sign of culmination of the old order, in which
Christian and heterodox beliefs were tolerated. Bektashi order was an influential element in the
Ottoman state till the revolt broke out. The Greek revolt provided the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi
orders with good opportunity in order to penetrate into administrative mechanism.
545
Hence,
when the atrocities conducted by the Greeks against the Muslims in Morea during the Greek
revolt, the Naqshibandi-Mujaddidi orders of the Sunni Orthodox Islam turned out to be right in
nullifying the liberal and tolerant attitude of the Bektashi order towards the non-Muslims.
546
In
other words, these atrocities provided justification for the intolerant and stern attitude of the
Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi orders towards the non-Muslims and Bektashis in the Empire.
547

Even though the Naqshbandi and Mujaddidi orders influenced policies of the Sultan
towards the non-Muslims,

Mahmud II showed some attempts to treat non-Muslim subjects
equally within a few years during the Greek revolt. This reconciling attitude of Mahmud II

543
The impact of the Orthodox Sunni Islam spread from India to the Ottoman lands by the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi
orders towards the end of the 17
th
century. Butrus Abu Manneh, "The Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi and the Bektashi
Orders in 1826," in Studies on Islam and the Ottoman Empire in the 19
th
century, 1826-1976, (stanbul: The Isis
Press, 2001) 70.
544
Butrus Abu Manneh, "The Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi and the Bektashi Orders in 1826," in Studies on Islam and the
Ottoman Empire in the 19th century, 1826-1976, (stanbul: The Isis Press, 2001).
545
Naqshibandi order was strictly orthodox, which followed sharia in performing Islamic duties. Abu Manneh,
2001, p. 70.
546
Ibid., p. 67. Bektashi order was not only a heterodox order with a strong shi'i tendency, but also incorporated
certain shamanistic and Christian beliefs. It did not follow strictly the sharia rules, in contrast to Naqshbandis.
Thereofe, the Bektashi order was regarded as the source of corruption and weakness for the Ottoman state and
Muslim community by the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order. Ibid. p. 70.
547
Ibid., p. 67.
135

towards Christians in the years following the revolt seems to be ironic when his well known
cruelty towards Christian groups (his deportation of a group of Armenians in 1828, his hanging
the Greek patriarch,
548
and Chios massacres) isconsidered. During his trips to the Balkans, he
expressed equality of all of his subjects and underlined the necessity to treat Muslims and non-
Muslims in equal terms.
549
In one of his public tours he stated that it is our wish to ensure the
peace and security of all inhabitants of our God-protected great states, both Muslim and reaya,
he reportedly said to mixed Muslim and non-Muslim audiences in the Balkans.
550
On another
occasion, he was heard to refer to his subjects as his children whom he treated equally, the only
difference perceived among them being of a purely religious nature.
551
And, in Shumla
(umnu), he said that Your faith is different, but all of you equally guard the law and my
Emperors will. Pay the taxes I charge you with; they are employed to ensure your safety and
welfare.
552
While promising equality to all his subjects, Mahmud II treated them unfair in some
specific points: He made his cash donations during his voyages and visits at the mosques and
mausoleums according to the religious lines, that the Ottoman Muslims received the highest
amount, the Greeks and Armenians and Jews followed them. Similarly, he made his cash
endowments for schools in the capital, according to the same religious segregation.
553
Similarly,
when he called the representatives from all provinces to the capital to hear their suggestions,
while he met all the expenses of the Muslim representatives, Christians received only half of the
amount of the Muslims.
554


548
Harold Temperly, F.B.A., The Crimea, England and Near East, (London: Frank Cass and Company Ltd., 1964)
22.
549
Davison, 1963, p. 27, "Christian-Muslim Equality," in Essays in Ottoman and Turkish History 1774-1923
(Austin: University of Texas Press: 1990) 114.
550
Reat Kaynar, Mustafa Reit Paa ve Tanzimat [Mustafa Reshit Pasha and Tanzimat], (Ankara, 1954) 14-15;
Safrastjan, 1988, pp. 74-75.
551
Ibid.
552
Cited in Safrastjan, 1988, p. 75, FN. 7.
553
Fatma Mge Gek, Rise of Bourgeoisie, Demise of Empire: Ottoman Westernization and Social Change, (New
York: Oxford UP, 1996) 114.
554
Ibid.
136

In spite of the Sunni-Orthodox influence on the Ottoman sultans and negative reputations
of the Greek subjects, the successors of Mahmud II continued to employ Ottoman Greeks in their
private service as advisors, private tutors, doctors or diplomats in the following years of Mahmud
IIs death. The well-known influential Constantinopolitan Greek families in the 19
th
century were
those of Mousouros, Aristarchis, Karathedoris and Vorgoridis. For example, Nicholas (1799-
1866), Miltadis (1809-1993) and John Aristarchis (1811-1897) could gain access to
governmental posts, despite the execution of their father, Stavros Aristarchis (1770-1822), who
was the last dragoman of the Porte during the Greek revolt. Nicholas Aristarchis was the private
tutor of the sultans,Abdlmecid and Abdlaziz. Militadis Aristarchis became governor of Samos
between 1861 and 1866. John Aristarchis had a distinguished place as a senior diplomat in the
Porte. He worked for fifty years mainly as the Ottoman ambassador to Berlin. Other Ottoman
Greek diplomat Alexander Karatheodoris (1833-1906) was Abdulhamid IIs advisor to foreign
affairs. He was ambassador to Rome in 1874, and in 1876 became undersecretary in the ministry
of foreign affairs. In the Berlin Congress (1878) he showed an outstanding performance to
protect Ottoman benefits. He also served as governor of Samos from 1885 to1895, then became
the first Christian governor of Crete (1895-1896). His father Stephan Karatheodoris was personal
physician of the sultans, Mahmud II and Abdlmecid. Another influential Ottoman Greek
diplomat was Constantine Mousouros. He served as an Ottoman ambassador to the Greek
Kingdom (1840-1848). He strongly defended Ottoman benefits during his post so much so that
he cut off the diplomatic relations with the Greek Kingdom in 1847 when the interests of the
Empire were threatened. John Photiadis, another Constantinopolitan Greek, served as Ottoman
ambassador to Athens during the Crete crisis. He left Athens to protest the Greek position on
Crete in 1868. Constantine Mousouros served as ambassador to London between 1856 and 1891,
and was succeeded by Constantine Anthopoulos (1891-1902), and Stephen Mousouros (1902-
137

1907).
555
These examples indicate that although the Ottoman Greeks were dismissed from the
service of governmental jobs and army as the potential disloyal subjects of the Empire, they
continued to be loyal individuals tothe Ottoman sultans either in his personal service or in
foreign affairs. For example, the nationality law of 1869 intended to form allegiance of non-
Muslims first to the state, then to their specific communities or millets, but only non-Muslim
diplomats could develop such allegiances by themselves before the initiation of the nationality
law.
556
The loyal service of these Greek subjects in the Empire as diplomats indicates that they
adapted the modern concept of allegiance to the state. Furthermore, during the reign of Mahmud
II, the state attempted to initiate official policies as counter-measure to calm down Balkan
separatist movements. For instance, the states grant of autonomy to the Samos Island in 1832
indicates a good example for such counter-measures to prevent further uprisings. Samos Island
was named as Sisam Emareti in 1832 with a special concession decree (imtiyaz ferman) and a
native governor, Sisam Beyi, was appointed to the island.
557

How did the Ottoman state treat zmir Greeks during the Greek revolt? How did the
revolt affect their social and economic position in the city? And, how did it affect the communal
relations in zmir? These questions should be discussed in order to understand the background of
the social, cultural and economic dynamics of zmir. This, in turn, would illuminate the nature of
communal relations during the Ottoman reforms. As far as zmir and its hinterland is concerned,
neither the Greeks of zmir attempted to initiate a separatist movement, like the Greeks, Serbs,
and Bulgarians did in the Balkans, nor the Muslims in zmir showed a hatred and aggressiveness
towards non-Muslim subjects, like it happened in the Arab lands of the Empire in the 1860s.
558


555
Alexandris, 1992, pp. 28-30.
556
Ibid., p. 30.
557
lber Ortayl, Greeks in the Ottoman Administration,in Otoman Greeks in the Age of Nationalism, eds. Dimitri
Condicas & Charles Issawi, (Princeton, New Jersey: The Darwin Press, 1999) 162.
558
Bruce Masters, Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World, The Roots of Sectarianism, (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2001), ch.5; Usama Makdisi, The Culture Of Sectarianism, Community, History, and
138

However, as it will be mentioned in the below, suffice it to say here for now that a group of
Ottoman Greeks in zmir asked for settlement right in the new Greek state in 1827 that could not
be effectuated.
Mr. Francis Werry, British consul to zmir, reported to Mr. Lidel in the Levant Company
that the Greeks of zmir saw the unsafe atmosphere they were in, and left for the islands.
559
The
scared and anxious Greeks in some cases were sheltered by the Muslims. However, sheltering in
their houses for long period of time was not safe and possible for the zmir Greeks, therefore
they decided to flee from the city with foreign ships, which was also difficult.
560
The Ottoman
authorities did not want the Greeks of zmir leave the city by taking ships under European or
Russian flags, since they believed that the Greeks of zmir would support the revolt.
561
The
newspaper Le Spectateur noted on 14 July 1821 that although the state forbade the take-off of the
foreign ships from the port,
562
many of them left the city, either supporting the revolt or fearing
for the tension in their home town. Ottoman Greek population suffered not only in the rebellious
Aegean islands, but also in Thessalonica
563
and zmir, which were not rebellious regions. The
Ottoman state considered the zmir Greeks flight from the city as an offensive action that it
confiscated their goods and houses as punishment,
564
and sold them in the following years.
565

The fetva of 26 April 1821 not only legalized the execution of the rebels, but also the

Violence in Nineteenth Century Ottoman Lebnon, (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press,
2000), ch. 7.
559
Quoted in Frangakis-Syrett, The Commerce of zmir in the Eighteenth Century 1700-1820, (Athens: The Center
for Asia Minor Studies, Athens, 1992), 67, FN. 125., RO, FO, 78/136, Consul Werry, Smyrna, 11 April 1821 to G.
Liddel, Levant Company, London; Rauf Beyru, 19. Yzylda zmir'de Yaam [The Life in zmir in the 19
th
Century],
(stanbul: Gzel Sanatlar Eitim Vakf, 2000) 49.
560
Stelios Seferiadis, 1821, [zmir during the 1821 Revolution,
a dark page], (Athens: Tipo Mirtidi, 1938) 5.
561
Solomonidis, 1970, 37.
562
Quoted from Le Spectateur 14 July 1821 in Seferiadis, 1938, p. 5.
563
Apostolos E. Vacalopoulos, A History of Thessaloniki, (Thessaloniki: Institute for Balkan Studies, 1963), p.p.
101-103.
564
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, 67, FN. 128; zmir Muhafz Hasan Paa, zmir Voyvodas vs.ye zmirden Sisama
kaanlarn durumu ile ilgili olarak gnderilen Evahir-i aban 1236 (24 Mays- 2 Haziran 1821) tarihli hkm,
Imperial order of 1236 sent to the muhafz of zmir Hasan Pasha, and the voyvoda of zmir] BOA, Mhimme, n.
239, p. 104 in Mbahat Ktkolu, 1986, p. 143, FN. 60.
565
Ktkolu, 1986, p. 144.
139

confiscation of their properties. Therefore, the properties of the rebels and those who escaped to
the islands were confiscated by the state.
566
The confiscated properties, -houses, shops,
vineyards, gardens, olive grove- were sold by auction to the Ottoman subjects regardless of
religion, Muslim or non-Muslim.
567
In zmir, 20 immovable properties, which were registered to
Darbhane-i Amire, were sold in September 1828 with muaccele.
568
On April 1828, 63
confiscated properties of the migrated Greeks were sold with muaccele for 85.586 kuru. 39 of
this 63 property were sold to the Turks and 24 of them were sold to the non-Muslims.
569
Some of
the confiscated properties were rented out, and their incomes were given to the treasury. In the
first eight months of 1829, the revenues of rented houses, shops and underground storerooms
(mahzen), and the earnings of vineyards and olive groves in the villages of zmir were handed
over to the imperial treasury by ihtisab nazr mer Ltfi Efendi.
570
The belongings in the
confiscated properties of the executed and escapee Greeks in zmir were sealed and counted and
their debts were calculated. For example, as a result of the inquiry in zmir, it was understood
that these zmir Greeks were creditors with almost 10.500 kese from the Ottoman esnaf and with
3.400 kese from the European merchants.
571
These debts were collected by the state on behalf of
the imperial treasury.
572
The state showed more reconciling attitude towards escapee Greeks of
zmir, so that they began to return to the city in 1823.
573
However, although they began to return
in 1823, the selling of their properties still in 1825 and 1828 showed that all of them did not

566
Ibid., p. 143.
567
Ibid, pp. 143-144.
568
Ibid, FN. 67, zmir Muhafz Vezire, zmir Kadsna ve zmir htisab Nazr mer Ltfi Efendiye 25 Safer
1244 (6 Eyll 1828) tarihli hkm, Defter-i Muhallefat Ahkam 1238-39: BOA, Maliyeden Mdevver Defterler,
(MAD), n. 9764, pp. 3-325.
In muaccele the price as a result of the conclusion of bargains was paid at once on the purchase of real property.
Redhouse Turkish-English Dictionary, (stanbul: Redhouse Yaynevi, 13
th
ed., 1993).
569
26 Ramazan 1244 (1 Nisan 1829) tarihli tezkire suretleri, BOA, Cevdet Tasnifi Maliye (Cevdet-M), n. 31500 in
Ibid., FN. 68.
570
MAD, n.9774, p.98 in Ibid., p. 145, FN.71.
571
zmir muhafz Hasan Paa, zmir Naibi, Mbair Katib-zade Ahmed ve muharrire yazlar 24 Rebill-Evvel
1238 (9 Aralk 1822) tarihli hkm: BA, MAD, n. 9774, pp. 69-70 in Ibid., p. 145, FN. 72.
572
BOA, Cev-M, n.21256 .The correspondence between Sakz muhafz Yusuf Pasha, his ukka of 13 Safer 1243 (5
Eyll 1827) and ariza 11 Muharrem 1244 (24 Temmuz 1828) of zmir htisab Nazr mer Ltfi Efendi of, BOA
Cev-M, n.14505 in Ibid., p. 145, FN.73.
573
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 687.
140

return and some of them were killed. Another punishment type that the state applied was exile.
Although it was not very common, in some cases the suspected Greek subjects were exiled. The
translator of the Porte, Yanko, his scriber and ukadar, for example, initially were exiled to
Kayseri, then when their support in the revolt became certain they were executed.
574
Some
unemployed Moreans, who came to Istanbul before the revolt broke out, attempted to return to
Morea during the revolt. They were exiled to inner Anatolia to prevent them from
communicating with rebels on the Aegean coastline.
575

The social order of zmir was negatively affected by the execution, confiscation and exile
of rebels. Because of some Muslim attacks on the Greek subjects in stanbul, (in the capital while
the rebels were being executed, some young people attacked Greeks houses and Erikap
church)
576
an imperial decree was issued in order to prevent such aggressive events towards
innocent Greeks (reaya) and the unnecessary use of guns and arms.
577
However, this imperial
decree could not prevent the unpleasant attitudes towards the Ottoman Greeks. Ottoman soldiers
killed a few Greeks in the city, when they saw some Greek bandit ships in the zmir bay. As a
result of the irritation that this event created, foreigner communities and consuls applied to the
Ottoman officials toask for protection. The guard (muhafz) of zmir informed the center about
these events in zmir, and two officials from the capital were sent to the city to remind the
importance of the protection of innocent Ottoman Greeks.
578
However, the center could not
prevent the mistreatment of the harmless Ottoman Greeks in the rebellious regions, like in
Chios.
579
The conflicting situation calmed down within a year in zmir that Ottoman Greek

574
Ktkolu, 1986, p. 145.
575
Ibid., p. 146.
576
Ibid., p. 151.
577
Ktkolu, 1986, p. 151.
578
The imperial orders which were sent to the muhafz, voyvoda, naib, and turnacba of zmir and eski kul
kethudas Mehmed Sadk Aa. Evahir-i aban 1236 (23 Mays-1 Haziran 1821), Mhimme, No. 239, p. 88/1 ve
143/2 in ibid., Ktkolu, 1986, p. 152, FN. 107.
579
Ibid., p. 152. In Chios, despite the warnings and attempts of the Kapudan Pasha, the execution, the confiscation
of properties of the harmless Greeks and the taking of the Greek women and children as captives by the permission
of the guard of Chios, Muhafz Vahid Pasha, could not be prevented. The soldiers after they supressed the revolt in
141

escapees asked permission to return from the Ottoman Empire through local authorities and their
Ottoman Greek subject relatives.
580
The patriarch himself applied to the Porte to ask the pardon
for the fugitive Greeks.
581
The British consul Viscount Strangford also asked the state to permit
their return. In his letter he stressed that they escaped since they feared during the turmoil. Since
they did not know how they would be treated if they return to their hometown, they had to accept
to be dominated by another state. Besides, these zmir Greeks owed considerable amount of loan
to the British merchants, if they came back, they would be able to pay it back.
582
As a result of
these attempts, the state decided to forgive those who ask for mercy and issued decree (irade) to
allow their return. In November 1823, a first decree was sent to Ayvalk, where the biggest
resurrection occurred in the Aegean coastline, in order to re-settle the incomers.
583
The Greeks of
eme, who left for Chios, explained their miserable life conditions on the island in a petition to
the Kapudan Pasha on 3 October 1823. They were allowed to return.
584
But, we should not
ignore the economic aspect of the issue, which might also be influential for the state to forgive
and permit their return. For example, Ayvalk, whose population mostly composed of Greek
subjects, had an economic significance in the Empire.
585
Thirty soaperies existed in the town and
it was an important center for the olive and olive oil production as well. Ayvalk used to meet
some of the soap and olive oil need of the capital, and it exported some amount of olive oil to
Russia as well. Viniculture, wine and salt production were also important elements of the
economic vitality in the town.
586
During the Ayvalk revolt, the entire town was almost emptied,
and not only the houses, vineyards, gardens, but also olive groves were confiscated. The number

Chios began to damage and loot the Greek houses. This was noted in the report of brahim erif Efendi, who was
appointed to Chios as a civil servant to register the properties. Ibid., p. 152, FN. 109.
580
Ibid., pp. 152-153; Nedim pek, Trk Yunan Nfusu Meselesi, [The Issue of Turkish-Greek Population],
Belleten, v. 52, n. 203, 1988, p. 480.
581
BOA, HH. N.39004 in Ktkolu, 1986, p. 153, FN. 115.
582
BOA, HH, n. 39279-C in ibid. p. 153, FN. 112.; FO 78/136, Factory Meeting , Smyrna, 13 Aprial 1821 Consul
Werry, quoted in Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 67.
583
Ktkolu, 1986, pp. 143, 153.
584
Ibid., p. 153.
585
Arkan, 1988, pp. 583, 585-586..
586
Ibid., p. 585-586.
142

of the confiscated olive trees was exceeding one million and the estimated amount of olive oil
taken from these trees was 850.000 okka. However, mills were necessary to get olive oil, but
they were deteriorated during the suppression of the revolt.
587
The authorities decided to give
mills with iltizam to voyvodas. In addition, barley and wheat fields were left without harvest.
588

As a result, Mahmud II ordered either giving of these fields to someone as trustee or selling of
them to the Muslims.
589
After the pardon of the Sultan, Greek subjects began to return to
Ayvalk. 2000 people were expected to return within a year. In all over the Empire, 4134
Ottoman Greeks returned to their hometowns between 7 November 1827 and 11 January 1828 in
Anatolia and Rumelia.
590
Moreover, return of fugitives was important not only to run the
evacuated income sources, and but also to increase cizye revenues of the state. For escapees to
re-obtain the status of Ottoman subject (reaya) was conditioned according to some prerequisites
by the state: they should not have passport or protection (berat) of foreign states, if so, they had
to renounce their foreign passports and protection documents. When they re-gained reaya status,
they would automatically become cizye payers. However, they were exempted from cizye and
rfi tax (extraordinary tax, based on common law) for a year as soon as they asked for mercy
from the state.
591
As the number of the newcomers increased, the local authorities asked extra
cizye papers from the center -as high, medium and low levels (ala, evsat, and edna cizye). Hence,
the number of cizye papers indicated the amount of the new comers. For example, in zmir in
1829 the total number of cizye papers the local authorities asked, including all three levels, was
900, and in 1830 was 420.
592
The Ottoman Sultan while applying harsh means for rebellious
Greek population, it pardoned fugitives and allowed them to return. This was not because he felt

587
Ktkolu, 1986, p. 143.
588
Arkan, 1988, p. 593.
589
Ibid., p. 593.
590
Ktkolu, 1986, p. 154.
591
HH. N. 38100-B in Ibid., p. 156.
592
Ibid., p. 157.
143

compassion for them, but he wanted to compensate the economic stagnation occurred with their
leave.
In the case of the suppression of the Greek revolt in Morea, a contemporary witness,
Greek teacher Konstantinos Kumas from zmir, wrote to his friend (Frederich Thiersch) in 1821:

A postman brought news from zmir/Ephesus and Istanbul. The metropolitan of Ephesus was imprisoned
and tortured, the patriarch was dismissed, important tradesmen and leading members of the Greeks,
including the dragoman of the navy and representative of the church were killed. When this news reached
zmir panic began among the Greeks and Turks get armed and they were ready to attack. Under this
atmosphere, I also had to leave the city. Many people were running towards the port to board on the ships,
some of them were trying to carry some of their properties as well. However, in this panic no bang of arms
was heard.
593


We have some information from travelers accounts regarding the situation in the society
of zmir in the years 1821 to 1836: Frankis Vyvan Jago Arundel, a priest worked in the British
consulate in zmir in 1822, noted the insecure social life and social unrest in the city.
594
Gotthilf
Heinrich von Schubert, who visited the city after the foundation of the independent Greek state
in 1836, talked about peaceful relations among Muslim, Greek and Jewish communities of
zmir.
595
Ernst Christoph Dbel, who stayed in zmir between November 1832 and early 1833,
compared zmir with Edirne (a town in eastern Trace) where he spent some time. He noted that
those traditional millet regulations were not strictly applied in zmir, therefore the Ottoman
Greeks were not forbidden carrying guns and knifes in zmir, in contrast to the Ottoman Greeks

593
Polihronis Enepekidis, , , , 1800-1923 [Trabzon, stanbul, zmir, 1800-
1923], (Athens: Okeanida, 1989) 328-329.
594
Frankis Vyvan Jago Arundelin zmiri: 1822, [Frankis Vyvan Jago Arundels zmir: 1822], quoted in lhan
Pnar, Haclar, Seyyahlar, Misyonerler ve zmir: Yabanclarn Gzyle Osmanl Dneminde zmir, 1608-1918,
[Pilgrims, Travellers and Missionaries and zmir: zmir from the Eyes of Foreigners, 1608-1918], (zmir: zmir
Bykehir Belediyesi Kltr Yaynlar, Kent Kitapl Dizisi, 2001) 124.
595
Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubertin zmiri: Ekim-Kasim 1836, [Gotthilf Heinrich von Schuberts zmir: October-
November 1836), quoted in Pnar, 2001, p. 170.
144

in Edirne. The Turks in zmir did not forbid cutting of meat of wild boar either. Some Turks even
hunted and sold it to the Franks in zmir.
596
He found zmir's communal relations more peaceful
compared to Edirne's. For him the reason for this inter-communal tolerance in zmir was the
presence and activities of British missionaries.
597
However, Hermann von Pckle noted in 1839 a
general hatred between Greeks and Turks in zmir. He wrote an anecdote between the governor
of zmir and an Ottoman Greek man -probably a leading merchant. While the governor was
humiliating the Greeks as infidels and inferiors, he tried to take revenge talking about
Navarin defeat of the Ottomans in 1827 and foundation of the Greek independent state.
598
The
Navarin defeat, which coincided with the last years of the Greek revolt, negatively affected the
social order in zmir. When the news of the defeat reached to zmir, British vice consul Mr.
Werry warned merchants to embark their goods to the quay and to be ready to leave by ships
with their families in the case of a possible attack of some irritated Turks in October 1828.
599
A
social disorder occurred in the city and lasted more than two months that both the Levantines and
Muslims of the city were very annoyed. While the latter was scared by the probable
bombardment of the Turkish quarter by the European ships in the bay, the former frightened to
be attacked by the Turks, some of which already showed some aggressiveness:
600
In the most
vital part of the city, on long Frank Street, a Turkish crowd was gathered in front of the Turkish
guardhouse with arms and pistols. The head of the avuba, Hac Bey, immediately interfered
and took them away. Both the governor of zmir and Hac Bey struggled to prevent any
aggressive event between the Muslims and Europeans. They succeeded to maintain social order

596
Dbel (1832-33), quoted in Pnar, 2001, pp. 136-137.
597
Ibid., pp.135-136.
598
Hermann von Pucklerin zmiri: January-April 1839, [Hermann von Pucklers zmir] quoted in Pnar, 2001, p.
185.
599
Charles Mac Farlane, Constantinople in 1828 and A Residance of sixteen Mounths in the Turkish Capital and
Provinces with an account of the Present State of the Naval and Military Power and of the Resources of the
Ottoman Empire, v. I, (London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit St, 1829), 2
nd
ed., 243-244.
600
Ibid., pp. 246-248.
145

in the city.
601
Local authorities of zmir struggled to preserve social order of the city during the
unrest in the city after the Navarin defeat of Ottomans, just like as the local officials did during
the extra ordinary times in the Tanzimat period.
602

Math Werry, the vice consul of zmir (1816-1825), (he was son of Francis Werry who
was the consul of Smyrna between 1793 and 1825), mentioned growing religious fanaticism.
He reported:

"The safety of British property and persons, in a country where fanaticism of
religious zeal, have now been so outrageously called into play, by intriguing
political agents frequently depends exclusively on that personal character of
individual influence of the consular agents..."
603


Regarding the social order in the city, the vice consul not only reported the disturbance and
unsafe environment and the difficulties he experienced in the city, but also emphasized the
ineffectiveness of the Ottoman government. It could not prevent massacres of kad and chief
customer.
604
Ottoman authorities were so ineffective that they even could not prevent the illegal
actions of the Janissaries and babozuks.
605
Janissaries suspected the molla, ulema, naib, and
head of the land notables (ayan) in that if they helped the Greeks who wanted to flee from the
city in return for bribery. The Janissaries killed molla, naib and the head of the ayan. Later on,
they attacked to the French consulate, in which 2000 zmir Greeks took already refugee. The

601
Ibid., pp. 246-248, 254.
602
See chapter 4 and 5 for the rule of the local authorities of zmir during the Tanzimat.
603
Embassy and Consular Archives, Public Record Office of Britain (PRO), 78/135: 278-279, 1825.
604
It is notorious fact that the part the British Consulate look on that revision, at least equalles, if not surprass that
of our colleagues, both in giving --- to the Greeks, who were exposed to the distructive of an infuriated Turk
populace, and in an efficacious manner, by personal infleunce contributing to win the chiefs of the Janissaries, to
exert their authority, to stop the carnage and reconcile them with the Pasha in order to restore the government, which
had not been able to prevent the massacre of kad or judge, and the chief customer. We moreover remained on shore
at our posts, during this rebellion, while not only French consul, but almost every European in the place fled for
safety on board the vessels anchored in the Bay...," PRO, 78/135: 269-270, 1825.
605
Hristos Sokratous Solomonidis, : , ,
[zmir Triology: zmir During the Awakening, The Easter of the unredeemed Greeks, Independent zmir]
(Athens: n.p, 1970) 37; Babozuk: irregular tribesmen, volunteers for military service. Shaw & Shaw, 1977, p. 472.
146

French consul convinced the Janissaries that they let women, children and the elderly to leave the
city by ships. Pasha and mtesellim locked themselves in their houses because of their fear of the
Janissaries.
606
Social order in the city reached to the point that only serdar had the courage to
walk in the streets of the city. Serdar demanded from the consuls to control the Greek ship under
the Russian flag, and he had the permission. He found out one hundred fifty Greeks in the ship,
and wanted to take them out of the ship. British consul Werry convinced the Ottoman officials
that they did not have the authority to take these Greeks out of the ship since they were not the
Ottoman subjects, but they were Greeks from the Ionian Islands, Eptanisa, which was under the
rule of England. In 20 April 1821 European consuls complained about the Greek massacres in
the city and protested the atrocities conducted against zmir Greeks. When they asked Ottoman
authorities to end this situation immediately, the Ottoman officials demanded the following in
return: European ships would not accept zmir Greeks as refugees; the navigating ships in the
zmir port would be examined by Ottoman authorities and would be able to imprison them if
they saw it necessary; the Greeks who sheltered in the consulate buildings should be expelled.
European (England, France, Austria, Prussia) and Russian consuls refused these demands, since
they found to expel sheltered Greeks as an inhuman action.
607
Hasan Pasha could not end the
anarchy in zmir as he was supposed to do so when he was appointed to zmir.
608
French consul
David was angry to Hasan Pasha since he could not provide social order in the city.
609
During the
negotiations the Janissaries promised in front the consuls that they would protect the reaya,
including the zmir Greeks, and Hasan Pasha asked the consuls that the Greek reaya should leave
the Frank houses, in which they sheltered, and return to their houses. The consuls accepted this

606
Solomonidis, 1970, p. 8. The rank of Pasha did not exist in the administrative hierarchy zmir. What Solomonidis
and some travelers named as Pasha refers to the governor of zmir.
607
Solomonidis, 1970, p.36.
608
Hasan Pasha was appointed as the Commander in Chief of Asia, , Asya Bakumandan and came
to zmir to end the anarchy in the city in 3 May 1821. Consuls visited him and expressed their hopes for the cease of
the anarchy and gave him presents. Ibid., p. 37.
609
Ibid., p. 39.
147

demand of Hasan Pasha. However, they mentioned that since the Greeks in zmir were extremely
scared, Hasan Pasha should give them some relief with an official note. The reaya in the past
believed in the reliability of the official letters of the Ottoman authorities, but now they did not
believe in this, Hasan Pasha said to the consuls. Therefore, Hasan Pasha said that metropolitans
and community leaders should convince zmir Greeks to return to their houses, since their
reliability was much higher than the Ottoman authorities.
610
All these arbitrary actions of the
Janissaries and babozuks indicate that Ottoman official authorities were not capable of
controlling them. Basbozuks killed molla who refused to give permission to loot houses of the
Greek subjects and also killed the chief of gendarme in zmir.
611
The first three years of the
revolt in zmir was full of atrocities, lootings, and killings, which were conducted by the
Ottoman babozuks and Janissaries. The babozuks initially settled around the city in order to
prevent a possible Greek revolt in the city,
612
but their actions exceeded boundaries of
controlling the city from a possible Greek uprise. The reason of the ill-treatment of the zmir
Greeks was not basically the state itself, but the arbitrary actions of the local powers. We do not
have any information about the ill-treatment of the zmir Greeks through orders directly coming
from the center, but we know the existence of uncontrolled local powers. This was a clear
indication of the weakness of the state authority in zmir.
The foreign press depicted the situation of the Ottoman Greeks in zmir, with
prejudgment, as the people who suffered, even murdered by the Turks under the suppressive the
Ottoman regime.
613
The newspaper Spectateur Oriental noted that the zmir Greeks had joined
to the Greek rebels to support the Greek revolt, and in zmir square four or more zmir Greeks

610
Ibid., p. 40.
611
Ibid., p. 44.
612
Ibid., p. 33.
613
Beyru, 2000, 49-50, 78. In spite of the writings of foreign press about the murder of the Greeks in zmir during
the Greek Independence War, Beyru mentions the population increase of the Greek community of the city and
decline in the Turkish population. Beyru, 2001, pp. 50-51. About the demographic situation of he city please see
section 2.1.2.
148

were assassinated, since they cooperated with the Greek rebels secretly.
614
; Lots of Hellens
were killed by drunk Turks;
615
A Turkish military division (blk), as soon as it arrived in
zmir, killed three and injured four Greeks;
616
in Pergamum, a maniac agha killed thousand
Greeks with an unimaginable atrocity that could not be comparable with none of the earlier
ones;
617
in Buca and Seydiky, many Greek women were raped.
618
The Greek peasants in
zmir were in hopeless situation. In none of the cities of the Ottoman Empire such atrocities of
the Turks were not seen, but in zmir. Barbarian Janissaries wanted to kill all the Greeks in zmir.
The capital of Ionnia became a great theatre of assassinations.
619
Considering biased approach
of the European press, such news should be read with caution. In spite of the mistreatment of the
zmir Greeks by some local powers, no any tension or conflict was recorded between the Greek
and Turkish communities of zmir during the Greek revolt. In other words, neither the Greeks
showed any aggressiveness in public whatever their private opinions were
620
nor the
aggressiveness of some of the local powers and small group of fanatic Turks did negatively
affect Muslims of the city towards their Ottoman Greek fellows. Some possible reasons of
maintenance of this social cohesion among the communities during the time of a social unrest in
the city will be discussed in chapter 5.
In spite of the turbulent times in the initial years of the Greek revolt, the commercial life
and economic vitality of the city began to revive in 1830s. Greek population of the city did not
decreased in the years following the Greek uprise; instead, a gradual migration began from
Morea and Aegean islands to zmir. While mentioning these migrations, the newspaper Courier

614
Ibid., p. 32.
615
Spectateur Oriental, 28 February 1823, quoted in Solomonidis, 1970, p. 47.
616
Spectateur Oriental, 1 May 1823, quoted in ibid., p. 47.
617
Spectateur Oriental, 18 July 1823, quoted in ibid.
618
Spectateur Oriental, 31 July 1824, quoted in ibid.
619
Claud Raffenel, Histoire complete des es enements de la Grece quoted in Hristos Sokratous Solomonidis, 1970,
p. 33.
620
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 67.
149

de Smyrne in 1830 criticized the European press, which presented the Ottoman country as the
land of oppression during the years of the Greek revolt:

Many Greeks from Morea and Aegean island are migrating to zmir for almost two months, and they are
trying to settle in the city. Just this week 50 people arrived. Most of the newcomers, who are young and
powerful, want only to work. Everybody knows thisNow, we want to ask to the Greek friend of the
EuropeWhy people of a free country, which governed by successful rulers, take refugee as masses in a
country where oppressed people live under the tyranic Turkish regime? And, again we ask them that why
none of the zmir Greeks left the city of zmir, which the Europeans call the city of captives, why they did
not leave in order to benefit from the noble and generous institution of Greece? even though the Greek
president invited them.
621


Courrier de Smyrne not only emphasized the continuous migration from Greece to zmir, but
also stressed the social order in the city, which was also depicted as malfunctioning in the
European press in the 1830s. In reviewing the book of Mac Farlane, the newspaper quoted his
words about zmirs social order: In zmir you may bump into many Turks who have special
love for Christians. The Ottomans, not only in Istanbul but in all over the Empire, do not
differentiate the Christian reaya from the Turkish reaya.
622
A writer in the Courrier de Smyrne
called Burnabatl Mnzevi used to live in a village of zmir with the Ottoman Turks. Thus he had
more accurate information about the zmir society and its Turkish population. He took attention
to the well running social order in city in his articles.
623
In his report to the Marseille Commerce

621
Courrier de Smyrne (CdS), 29.4.1830 quoted in Kololu, Orhan Kololu, lk zmirli Gazeteciden zmir
Haberleri, [News from the First Smyrnean Journalist of Smyrna], in Son Yzylda zmir ve Bat Anadolu [zmir and
western Anatolia in the last century], ed. Tuncer Baykara, (zmir: Akademi Kitabevi, 1993) 141. Although the
newspaper wrote in 1830 that none of the zmir Greeks left the city, as the discussion above showed many zmir
Greeks left the city during the early years of the revolt, but returned in a few year.
622
CdS 30.5.1830, quoted in ibid. However, Charles MacFarlane in his another book did not write positive things
about Turks as a result of his journey in the years 1847 to 1848, Charles MacFarlane Turkey and its Destiny: the
results of journeys made in 1847 and 1848 to examine into the state of that country, (Philadelphia. Lee & Blanchard,
1850). But, in Orhan Kololus quote of the French newspaper we see that he had postitive ideas about Turks in the
Empire.
623
CdS 13.12.1828 and 7.6.1829 quoted in ibid., p. 141.
150

Chamber, he also noted safety and good attitudes of security officials in zmir.
624
The newspaper
also mentioned that the Greeks of zmir continued to make their entertainments and celebrate
their bairams in peace during the years of turmoil.
625
It also criticized the attitudes of the
Ottoman gendarme who did not prevent zmir Greeks from using guns during their Easter
celebrations, although it was forbidden.
626
The reviving commerce and trade of zmir was
demonstrated by the figures of navigating ships for the import and export trade in the
newspaper.
627

There was no homogeneity among the zmir Greeks about the Greek revolt and the
formation of an independent Greek state. A group of zmir Greeks supported the Greek revolt,
that they claimed some rights in the newly founded Greek state.
628
Explaining the ongoing
commercial regulations in the region and making some suggestions about their situation, this
group presented a report on 1 May 1827 to the newly emerging Greek state.
629
This report
provides some information to understand their approach of the Greek independence and their
expectations from the nascent Greek state. The main point they stressed in the report was that
they presented themselves as real (, gnisii) Hellens. They underlined that the concept
gnisii had wider scope than the concept native, (, aftohtones). This meant that to
be a real Hellen was more important than to be native in the land of the newly emerging Greece.

624
CdS 4.10.1828 and Spectateur Oriental 25.10.826 quoted in ibid., p.142. In the newspaper the term police was
used. Since there was no police organization in this period in the Empire, I used it either as security officials or
gendarme.
625
CdS 25.4.1828 quoted in ibid.
626
CdS 3.10.1830 quoted in ibid.
627
Kololu, pp. 144-147.
628
Nikolaos Peandazapulos, ,
(1827-1829), , (Natives and Non-Natives, social-political struggle in revolutionary
Greece: The case of zmir), ( , , 1986) 28.
629
In their report they stressed that regarding the commercial relations in Eastern Mediterranean there was a set of
unwritten regulations, whose center was zmir. They mentioned that those unwritten regulations depended on
common benefit and cooperation, which gave zmir a kind of unwritten autonomous status regarding trade. In the
past, until the Greek revolt, the tradesmen who came from Continental Greece and islands benefited from the rights
of the Greeks of zmir. During the Greek revolt in 1827, the Greeks of zmir presented these regulations as a report
to the nascent Greek state (1 Mays 1827). Ibid., p. 26.
151

They stressed that wherever Hellens exist, that place is homeland (, patris).
630
There was
a conflict between the Ottoman zmir Greeks, non-native (, eterohtones), and
native Greeks of the newly emerging Greek state, , aftohton. Greeks of the newly
emerging Greek state annoyed with zmir Greeks, because they thought that if Greeks of zmir
settled in the newly founded Greek state, they would disturb their order and regulations.
631
This
group of zmir Greeks wanted to have representatives in the newly forming Greek parliament
and a permanent place of residence, which would be named , New Smyrni, in the
independent Greece.
632
None of these demands of the zmir Greeks were accepted. They were
told that since their population was below 15,000, they could not have the right of representation
in the Greek parliament according to the regulations of the new parliament in Greece. When the
Greeks of zmir could not achieve the right of representation, a question raised: whether the
zmir Greeks were real, Hellen or not, and should they have the right to be represented and
settled in independent Greece or not. In Trizinas,
633
it was decided that those who believed in
Christ and want to escape and come to the free Greece would be accepted as real Hellens.
634
The
actions and ideas of this group of zmir Greeks were important for the nascent Greek state:
During the Greek revolt and after it, their arguments and discussions altered those limited scopes
of the native and non-native theories and contributed to the development of a new political idea
and constituted an example for the redefinition of a prototype of being a Hellen.
635
The ideas of
this fraction of zmir Greeks indicate that all zmir Greeks did not want to live under the
Ottoman rule after the independent Greek state was founded. They wanted to develop a political
loyalty to the independent Greek state. The Ottoman sultan forgave this group of zmir Greeks

630
,Ibid., p. 26.
631
Ibid., pp. 32, 37.
632
Ibid., p. 23. This idea of establishing a Nea Smyrni of the zmir Greeks of 1830s would be possible only after the
1922 forced exchange of the Greek and Turkish populations as was agreed in the Lausanne Treaty.
633
, Trizina, is the name of a region in Morea where the initial discussions were held for the Greek
constitution.
634

, Pantazopulos, 1986, p.38.
635
Ibid., p. 60.
152

who attempted to establish a new district called New Smyrni in Greece. Thus, they returned to
zmir according to the London protocol of 1836.
636

Surely we cannot make a generalization regarding the ideas of the all zmir Greeks by
considering ideas of this group. Moreover, when we consider the gradual population growth and
economic and social-cultural development of zmir Greeks in the years following the Greek
revolt, we can easily assume that the ideas of this fraction did not become popular.
International impact of the Greek revolt on zmir paved the way for the growing
commercial interests of Britain in the port-city. In the correspondences of the vice consul of
zmir, M.Werry, we see not only this, but also his degrading approach to the Ottoman Empire's
presence in the Balkans and Asia Minor. In his reports, he discussed the necessities to entrench
British industry in the European provinces of the Ottoman Empire and in Asia Minor. From the
viewpoint of the vice consul of zmir, Great Britain constituted a powerful instrument to aid
modern Greeks in overthrowing the Ottoman Empire from the Morea peninsula. However, to be
able achieve this plan, there were two obstacles: one was the prejudices of the Ottoman
government; the other was the active influence of the Russian agents, which contributed to
development of Ottoman prejudices against England. He mentioned that in the early years of the
Greek revolt, Baron de Strogonoff, M. de Dashkoff, and especially Halet Efendi were the main
favorites of the Ottoman sultan.
637
They imposed him to get rid of his most powerful military

636
According to Anastasiadis, the reason why the nascent Greek state cancelled the foundation of a Nea Smyrni in
Istmos in Greece was the sultans permission of their return in 1836. Ibid., p. 60, FN 85. Pantazapulos mentioned
that it was not proved that if Anastasiadisclaim was true or not.
637
Halet Efendi favored the Greeks during the revolt and hid some necessary information from the state in trying to
protect them. anizade and Cevdet Pasha attributed the reason of the big Ayvalk insurrection, which caused the
destruction of Ayvalk, to the role of Halet Efendi. For the role of the Halet Efendi in the Greek revolt, see Arkan,
1988, pp. 574, 586-587; Ycel zkaya, 1821 Yunan (Eflak-Budan) syanlar ve Avrupallarn syan Karsndaki
Tutumlar, [1821 Greek, Wallachia and Moldavia revolts and The Attitudes of the Europeans Towards Them] in
Tarih Boyunca Trk-Yunan likileri, nc Askeri Tarih Semineri Bildiriler, (Ankara: Genel Kurmay Basmevi,
1986) 117.
153

chiefs, namely Tepedelenli Ali Pasha and Mehmet Ali Pasha, in order to provide a uniform rule
in the Balkan provinces of the Empire.
638
As for Asia Minor, the vice consul recounted:

Asia Minor offers an extensive field for almost every branch of human industry. Its productions are
infinitely varied...the inhabitants of the interior, they have far greater facilities, than the Europeans possibly
can possess, of bringing the varied resources of that rich country into exchange for our growing
manufacturers and of thus increasing greatly the intercourse between Great Britain and those countries...It
is indeed to commerce mainly that we may look for the civilization and future moral development of the
present Mohammedan occupation of those fertile regions.
639


M.Werry made repeated suggestions about the effective policies in order to penetrate into
the Ottoman lands. According to him, "the peace and safety at Smyrna, as of every city and town
in the Ottoman Empire, depend on the mutual good understanding maintained between those
chiefs and the officers nominated at Constantinople."
640
He stressed that the cooperation of the
local authorities and consular agents could concert necessary proceedings in the port cities.
641
He
also noted that the consul agents, -consul, vice consul, chancellor, interpreters and Janissaries or
guard- were the people who were employed for the purpose of keeping requisite interaction with
the Turks.
642
However, he was aware of the fact that the well-being of the British property and

638
...Such a plan offered many political and commercial points coincidence with that more extensive scheme
general civilization in which Great Britain forms powerful an instrument. In the combined development of any
similiar project, the chief obstacles to be contended with were, the prejudices, on the one hand, of the Ottoman
government itself, and on the other, the active influence adapted to those very prejudices by the Russian agents. It
may be here worth while offering as a problem whether one of the great proximate casues of the Greek Revolution
was not the overthrow by the Sultan's forces of the civil and military government execised over Albania and Greece
by Tepedelenli Ali Pasha. This event appears to have been brought by the infleunce of Baron de Strogonoff and M.
De Dashkoff with Halet Efendi at that time the sultan's favorites. The prejudices in the Sultan's mind on which Halet
Efendi seems to have operated were those which he had long charished of submitting the European provinces to one
uniform system of government, a system which from the period of the peace of Bucharest he had aimed as
introducing into his dominions of Asia, with the view of concentrating all the resources of the Ottoman Empire in
order to oppose with full effect the hostile power of Russia, so recently aggrandized by her triumphs over the
French." PRO 78/135:284-285.
639
PRO 78/135:296.
640
PRO 78/135: 295.
641
Ibid.
642
Ibid., p. 291.
154

interests were closely associated with good relations with the local government and leaders of the
Janissaries. In the consular correspondence we see that the British interest to settle itself in the
Ottoman economy had already begun during the Greek revolt
643
following the years of the
French retreat from the Ottoman Empire and Eastern Mediterranean as a result of the Napoleonic
Wars.
The Greek revolt affected the economic life of zmir negatively, that it became in
stagnation from 1820s on.
644
Port of zmir was very active and vital until the Greek revolt broke
out. The exile of the Greeks and the social unrest caused the city to lose its vividness in
commercial life.
645
The sea trade of the city could begin to revive again effectively in 1844.
646

The trade of zmir was badly affected by the leave of the zmir Greeks to islands when the revolt
broke out. When Greeks fled, especially those of Chiots, not only the trade of the city was
paralyzed, but also Europeans who traded with them affected badly -Europeans neither could
receive the loans that they gave to the Greeks or credits, nor could confiscate their properties as
compensation.
647
The Greeks began to return to zmir in 1823. Although their return did not
immediately change the deteriorated position of the European merchants, it helped the economy
of the city to revive. This was in favor of the Europeans as well.
648
It was said that the Levantine

643
Britains attempts to shape the Ottoman political and economic structure could be crystallized in the 1860s and
1870s, and it was so successful that it could shape the Empire's jurisprudence system according to the convenience
of European merchants and their Ottoman customers. Daniel Goffman, "zmir from village to colonial port city" in
The Ottoman City between East and West, Aleppo, zmir, and stanbul, eds. Edhem Eldem, Daniel Goffman, Bruce
Masters, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999) 126.
644
Frangkais-Syret, 1992, p. 67;
645
Hristos Sokratous Solomonidis (1657-1922), [Theathre in Smyrna (1657-1922)], (Athens:
n.p, 1954) 48-49.
646
Ibid., p. 49. In 1844, 1044 ships arrived at the zmir port. Among them 314 were the Greek protected subjects,
147 of Ottoman Greeks, 140 English, 89 Turkis, 57 Austria, and 43 French.
647
Quoted in Frangakis-Syrett, 1992, p. 67, FN 128.
648
Ibid, PRO, 78/136, J. Cartwright, Consul General, Istanbul, 10 Jan 1823 to G. Liddel, Levant Company, London,
FN. 131. Regarding the commercial relations of the British with the Levant, vice consul of Smyrna, M. Werry,
reported in 1825 that it "have increased greatly since the breaking out of the Greek Revolution, since it led to the
opening of the channels of commerce." PRO 78/135:295. M. Werry stated in detail "It is probable that the abolition
of the Levant Company will be followed by a still further extension of that commerce. As long as the company
existed, money-holders both on the Ottoman territory and in England were ignorant of the nature of the regulations
and considering it as a monopoly they were afraid to adventure their capital, publicity having been given to the
155

merchants wanted to get rid of from the Greeks of zmir so that they would dominate the trade in
the city.
649

The strict measures of Mahmud II towards the rebellious Ottoman Greeks, in the first
years of the revolt, might be evaluated both as a response of the state in accordance with its
political Islamic tradition and a modernizing absolutist empire. In other words, the Ottoman state
seems to exhibit one of the characteristics of the modern state by using means of force and
violence within its territory. However, if we consider this issue from the viewpoint of the
Ottoman Empire, it is seen that the foremost idea that set the Porte into action about the Greek
revolt was its political Islamic tradition: since the Ottoman Greeks abolished the zimmi pact, the
state considered their attitude as an intrigue against the state under which for centuries they used
to live in peace, therefore, it declared warfare against them. The main idea in suppressing them
originated from the Islamic principles (the decision of applying harbi principles of Islamic law).
The Ottoman Empire showed attempts to differentiate and protect the harmless Ottoman Greeks
from the rebellious ones by issuing decrees and appointing state officials to the regions where the
Greeks were mistreated, again, in accordance with its Islamic political tradition. It did not take
very long time for Mahmud II to show a reconciling attitude towards his Greek subjects. In a few
years Sultan himself began to re-stress that the non-Muslim subjects of the Empire were not
different from the Muslim subjects, unless they pay their taxes and being loyal to their state.
zmir Greeks situation as the natural economic, social and cultural elements of the Ottoman
society and their relations with the Turks in the years following the Greek revolt shows that some
peculiar dynamics of the city helped to recover the tensity between the Greek community and
Ottoman state. Moreover, Tanzimat regulations provided them to entrench themselves more into

abolition, excitement has been produced and it may be reasonably expected that new channels will be opened by the
spirit of enterprise which characterized the present times." Ibid, PRO 78/135:295-296, 1825.
649
Qouted from Pouqueville in Solomonidis, Athens, 1970, p. 41.
156

the society of zmir by benefiting from the new regulations through their social-cultural and
economic activities.


The Impact of the Reforms on the Greek Orthodox and Muslim Turkish Communities
European councils were established in zmir in the early 17
th
century. The foundation of
the French consulate in 1619 was followed by the foundation of the British and the Dutch
consulates.
650
Consuls became influential elements in the administration of the city. This
continued in the 19
th
century that they played both positive and negative role in the
implementation of the Tanzimat reforms. When the French had to end their commercial activities
in the Near East as a result of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars and hostility was
declared between the Ottoman Empire and France, the influence of British consul began to
increase at the beginning of the 19
th
century at the expense of the French consul. The British
consul represented the British community before the Ottoman authorities and interfered to the
matters related to the British merchants since late 1790s in zmir. He was appointed by the
Levant Company in which he had the most important status.
651
Regarding the authorities and
positions of British merchants in zmir, M. Werry stated that "the subjects of Great Britain are
placed in all civil and criminal matters occurring between Europeans under the excessive
jurisdiction of the British consuls" in one of his correspondences in 1825.
652
When the Greek
revolt was still continuing in 1825, regarding the main duty of the consuls in zmir, the vice
consul himself stated that "the most important and difficult part of the consuls duty consists in
maintaining order and peace amongst much discordant elements"
653
in zmir. Moreover, in
reporting the social disturbance in the city, he underlined his precious efforts in that uncivilized

650
Frangakis Syrett, 1992, p. 24.
651
Ibid., p. 76.
652
PRO 78/135: 292, 1825.
653
PRO 78/135: 293-294, 1825.
157

country.
654
Some travelers also pointed out influential and privileged position of the foreign
consuls in the city's administration: a traveler stated in 1835 that the Ottoman gendarme could
not dare to search the house of a consul to find a criminal without the permission of the consul,
even though it was definitely known that that criminal was in his house;
655
other traveler noted in
1846 that consuls in zmir had a very strong authority and acted authoritatively as if they wanted
to remind their effective position;
656
another traveler noted in 1860 that consuls were the first in
the hierarchy of zmir.
657
Foreign merchants, by nature, benefited from the influence of consuls.
Even, occasionally Ottoman Muslim merchants also sought help for them when they were in
conflict with the Ottoman officials. For instance, they petitioned the British consul in 1840 for
their 21,530 kuru, the tax collector owed to them.
658
If we consider the Eastern Question, the
willingness of European states to interfere in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire through
their consuls -as supporters of the Ottoman reforms and protectors of the non-Muslim
communities- was not surprising. But, sometimes their actions exceeded their authorities so
much so that they could prevent the implementation of some of the Tanzimat regulations when
economic interests of their merchants were at stake. For example, in 1855 the attempts to re-
write profit tax (temett) notebooks in zmir were not successful because of the interference of

654
The typical biased Eurocentric account of the British vice consul is not suprising. M. Werry, in one his reports of
1825, to be able to express his devoted performance in Smyrna to his superiors during the Greek revolt, despite the
all negative atmosphere in the city, desribed Smyrna as uncivilized country: ...During the greater part of the
Greek insurrection up to the period that I obtained eight months of leave of absence I have performed nearly the
whole duty of the consulate...The name of my father, Mr. Consul Francis Werry, and of our family, stand high in the
Levant, it may be conducive to the benefit of the British interests in that uncivilized country that the Counlship may
be -- on me particularly at a period of political difficulty when our personal influence in that quarter, a variety of
difficulties attending the British interests both of a commercial and ? are adjusted by that influence, with the chiefs
of the local government at Smyrna...the French consul received a mark of Royal Favor from his sovereign, to his
conduct during the disturbances which occured at Smyrna where the Greek Revolution first broke out... PRO
78/135, pp. 266-269, 1825.
655
Kontes Pauline Nostitzin zmiri: 1835 [Kontes Pauline Nostitzs zmir: 1835] quoted in Pnar, 2001, pp. 153-
154. Kontes Pauline Nostitz came to zmir with his husband, who was an insect specialist and worked in zmir for a
while before passed to India. Ibid, p. 374.
656
Beyru, 2000, pp. 66-67.
657
Hermann Schererin zmiri: 1860, [Hermann Scherer zmir: 1860], quoted in Pnar, 2001, p. 237; Hermann
Scherer was a German traveler. Ibid., p. 374.
658
Reat Kasaba, The Ottoman Empire and The World Economy, The Nineteenth Century, (New York: State
University of New York, 1988a) 71-72.
158

the consuls. Ahmed Refik Pasha, who was responsible for the registers of the non-Muslims,
could not complete writing the temett notebook of zmir. The reason for this incomplete temett
register was the consuls claim that these people whom Ahmed Refik Pasha wanted to register
were under their protection. Thus, Ahmed Refik Pasha refusing this interference of the consuls
did not continue to register and left the city.
659
Since foreign minority communities directly
under the jurisdication of the consulates of their native countries, consuls' authority was almost
equal to the authority of the governor of the city. Frank districts of zmir, especially, were like a
federative unit, which was constituted by various small states-
660
Austria, Genoise-Toscana,
Denmark, Flanders, France, England, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia and Greece.
661
Documents of the
Tanzimat period suggest that the influence of consuls continued in zmir, that they dealt with
issues from minor to major. The following example concerning a property problem of a non-
Muslim Ottoman woman illustrates the effective position of the British consul in zmir in the
1840s. Kolyince petitioned to the Porte about her sherbethouse (erbethane), which ruined
during the fire in zmir. She inherited this erbethane from her mother. Two Christian men,
Andonaki, who was under the British protection, and Yorgi, an Ottoman Greek, interfered in her
sherbethouse without any reason. She received an ilam- eri from the kad of zmir and an
official report (mazbata) from the provincial council of zmir three years before (in 1841). She
also received an imperial order, which referred her complaint to the Islamic court. Since these
non-Muslim men were under British protection, she also petitioned the British consulate, which
ordered that her complaint should be listened in the Islamic court. The court initially decided
forbiddance of the interference in her erbethane. However, these two men did not obey this
decision, that she was treated unequally. In spite of the decision of the court in her favor, she
could not receive imperial order and the letter of the British consul re-stressing the forbiddance

659
Ktkolu, 2000, pp. 36-37.
660
nar Atay, Tarih inde zmir, [zmir in History], (zmir: n.p.,1978) p. 27; Beyru, 2000, p. 69.
661
Ktkolu, 2000, p.41.
159

of the interference. Moreover, by taking advantage of the lapse of time, these two men began to
make a building on her ruined land of erbethane. She applied to the center again telling that if
these men did not have an ordering letter from the British consul, they would abandon from
coming to the court. Therefore, to make them attend to the court she again requested an imperial
order and a letter from the British consulate, and also a written document to forbid construction
of that building on her ruined land, at least until the conflict was solved. She requested this
decision to be written in a vizierial letter and given to her hand.
662
It is seen that this Christian
woman insistently asked a letter from the British consulate in zmir to protect her rights against
these non-Muslim men. Another example, dating back to 1842, about a murder case in zmir also
provides evidence for the authority of the British consul in the city: The murder of a Dutch
woman in zmir on the 6
th
of July 1842 by a native of Malta was proved by two witnesses.
Consul Brunt, the British consul in zmir, in his correspondences wrote about this event and
stated that although the crime was punished with the penalty of death, upon the report of the
judge, it was commuted to transportation for life.
663
Since Malta was under the British rule, the
consul was directly involved in the trial and decision of the punishment of the murderer. British
consul was also interested in physical and sanitary conditions of the city for the sake of their

662
Ma'ruz Cariye-yi Keminleridir ki, zmir'de Kassab Hizr Mahallesinde mteveffa-y validemden mntakil rsen
mutasarrfa olduum erbethaneye fi'l-asl zmir sakinlerinde olub elan ngiltere devleti himayesinde bulunan
Antonaki Kamari ve Yorgi Suva naman kimesneler fuzuli mdaheleden hali olmadklar hasebiyle merkumlar ile
mahallinde lede't-terafu ihkak- hak olunmak mazmununda bundan sene mukaddem zmir hakimi ve meclis
tarafndan yed-i akeraneme virilen i'lam- er'i ve mazbata ve divan- hmayundan evrak- mezkureye karlan der-
kenar mantukunca mahallinde mrafa'a olunmaklmz babnda bir kt'a ferman- 'ali ile ngiltere sefaretinden dahi
zmir konsolosluundan iktiza iden tembihatn tahrir ve i'tas nice kerre istid'a ve istirham olunmu ise de elan
derdest olamadndan bu cariyelerine gadr- klli olduu ve mahaza erbethane-yi mezkure zmir harikinde
muharrik olarak mnaza'a-yi mezkure fas ve r'iyyet olunmakszn 'arsasna tarafeynden kimesne mdahale
eylememek zere lede't-tembih karar virilmi ise de imdiye kadar hali prme'alime merhameten liedli't-terafu gerek
sefaret-i muma ileyhimann konsolosa hitaben iktiza iden mektubu derdest olunamayarak imrar- vakt olunduunu
merkuman ittihaz frsat birle arsa-y mezkureyi inaya ibtidar itmekte olduklar bu def'a mesmu- abidnem olmak
mlasebesiyle bu cariyelerini bu makule gadren vikayeye madem ki merkumlar sefaret-i muma ileyhimann tembihi
olmadka mrafadan ictinab eylemeleri cihetiyle li ecli't-terafu bir kt'a ferman- 'ali ile sefaret-i muma ileyhima
mektubunun istihsali ve hi olmaz ise imdilik madde-yi mezkure hitam-pezir oluncaya dein mahall-i mezkure vaz-
i yedden ve imsa-y ebniyeden men' olunmak mazmununda bir kt'a emirname-yi sami-i hazret-i vekaletpenahinin
eref suduruyla yed-i akeraneme i'ta ve ihsan abnda emr ferman hazret-i menleh'l-emrindir, Ben de Kolyinca
Nasraniye, BOA, A.DVN. 9/75 1844.
663
PRO 78/532:173, 14 July 1843, 190, 28 January 1843.
160

commercial activities. For example, during one of the epidemic diseases, plague, in 1843, the
consul had the authority to examine the surrendering districts and villages of Smyrna and to give
orders to take necessary precautions, and put the ships coming from Egypt and Syria under
quarantine in the port to prevent the spread of the disease in the city.
664

Despite the effective role of the consuls in the administration of zmir during the
Tanzimat, we also see the attempts of the Ottoman Empire to limit their influential authority in
the city. Mehmed Hamdi, the head official of zmir (kaymakam), wrote in 1844 that he received
a letter from the center ordering that the consuls should not give patent (license of citizenship)
and exceed the boundaries of their duties. In this letter, it was ordered that if the consuls act
contrary to these orders, they should be warned about their provoking actions.
665
Another
archival document about the forbiddance of publishing an Armenian newspaper in zmir in 1844
indicates both the influence of consuls in zmir and local governor's unrest about the consul's
interference in the issue. A subject of Russia, who was a resident of zmir, attempted to publish
an Armenian newspaper, like other French, English and Greek newspapers in the city. Its
publishing was prohibited by the decision of the local governors of zmir, because of the
complaints of the Armenian kocabaes: They argued that since this newspaper in an earlier time
wrote against the Ottoman Armenians, they did not want it. They also mentioned that since there
was already an Armenian newspaper in the city, there was no need for the second one. This issue
was explained to the mutasarrf of zmir by a vizierial letter. It informed mutasarrf of zmir
about the petition of the Russian consul to obtain permission to publish the newspaper and the
reasons behind the prohibition of this newspaper. Russian consul asked permission by stating

664
PRO 78/522: 179, 12 July 1843.
665
zmir'de bulunan dvel-i mtehabbe konsoloslar tarafndan --- sahihen devlet-i aliyyeye patenta virmemek ve
umur- memurlarndan haric ziyade maslahatlara karmamak tenbihatn amil sefaretleri tarafndan alnan mekatib
leffen taraf- akerime gnderilmi ve ba'zlarna dahi sefaretleri cannibinden dorudan doruya yazlm olduu ---
aliyyeyle zikr olunan mektublarn --- vusulunda mahallerinde bi'l-i'ta ahkam- mndericesinin hakimane istihsal,
icrasna mbaderet ve konsoloslar tarafndan mugayir hareket vuku'unda kendlere ihtar keyfiyetle..., BOA, Bab-
Ali Evrak Odas, Sadaret Evrak Mektubi Kalemi (A.MKT), 16/24 1844.
161

that the newspaper would only write about commercial matters. Mutasarrf in his reply to the
capital asked decision of the Porte about re-publication of the newspaper, but emphasized the
unrest of the Armenian community of zmir about this issue.
666
Such documents indicate that
local governors and state itself was not comfortable with the influential positions of the consuls
in the administration of the city during the Tanzimat period. The center tried to control and limit
consuls authority in accordance with the centralizing reforms of the Tanzimat.
The registers of the Supreme Council of Judicial Ordiances (Meclis-i Vala-y Ahkam-i
Adliye) provide important information regarding the application of the Tanzimat regulations in
zmir. The new penal code was one of these new regulations that Meclis-i Vala registers contain
many examples related to the implementation of it. In 1843, Meclis-i Vala issued an order of
vizier (buyruldu) about a Muslim soldier from zmir. He was in condemnation to the galleys
(krek cezas) for fifteen years because of a murdering suspicion (katl thmeti). Explaining her
desperate situation after her husband's and her daughter-in-law's death, his mother petitioned to
the Meclis-i Vala to request her son's release. Her request was in accordance with the change in
the 1840 penal code. His punishment was reduced to five years, which he already completed.
Therefore, her request was accepted and ratified by the grand vizier.
667
Another example for the
application of the new penal code was for the murdering case between two Ottoman Greeks in

666
Rusya devlet teb'asndan zmir'de mtemekkin Hacdor Melekselamof nam ahs...gazetenin tab'na ru idecei
halde habhane-yi memleket taraflarndan men' olunmu olduundan bahisle...mersum Hacdor bundan akdem
kendlnden edevat tedarikiyle ermeni lisan zre gazete tab' eylemekde imi. Ermeni milleti hakknda baz'z
uygunsuz eyler tab' eylemi olduundan ve zmir'de o makule gazete tab'nn lzumu olmadn millet-i merkum
kocabashlar ifade ve ihbar eylemi idnden men' etdirilmi Muahharan mersumun bundan byle o makule
uygunsuz mahalde birey tab' eylememek zere gazete tab' etmesine irade-yi ruhsat olunmas hususu zmir'de
mukim --- marunileyh konsolosu tarafndan iltimas ve sdar olunmu... BOA, A.MKT 10/30, 1260 (1844).
667
zmirden mretteb topcu asakir-i neferatndan Ahmed cnha- vakasna mebni ellibe senesinden ber mahbes
ve prankadabulunmu ve merkumun peder ve ayal vefat iderek kends sefalete duar olmu idnden
merhameten tahliye-yi sebili hususu zmir sakinlerinden merkumun validesi erife nam hatun tarafndan rikab-
hmayun- hazret-i ahaneye arzuhal takdimiyle niyaz ve istirham olunmu olduundan keyfiyyetin meclis-i vala-y
ahkam- adliyeye ledel havale ihrac itdirilen krek kaydna nazaren merkum mukaddema katl thmetiyle der-
saadete gnderilerek verese-i maktuln dem ve diyete dair amme-yi davadan merkumun zmmetini ibra
eylemeleri cihetiyle eran nesne lazm gelmeyb fakat mcazeten elliyedi senesi evahir-i rebil-ahirinde on be
sene mddet in vaz- pranka olunmu ve muahharen kanunname-i hmayun zeyl-i irade buyurulan ahkam
tadiliyeye tatbiken meclis-i vala-y umumi karar ve mteallk buyurulan irade-yi seniyye mucebinde mddet-i
muayyenesi be seneye tenzil ve tadil klnmfi 24 --- sene 1259 (1843). BOA, Ayniyat Defterleri, Meclis-
iVala'dan, no. 381, p.40.
162

1841. Since mother of the victim forgave the murderer, the punishment would not be applied.
According to the penal code, the murderer was imprisoned for fifteen years, but he escaped from
prison. Meclis-i Vala expressed its resentment to the provincial council of zmir whose staff
could not control the convict. It ordered that he should be found immediately and sent to
stanbul.
668
Another case was between two Muslim males. It was proved that one murdered the
other purposely. The family of the victim forgave the murderer so that the retaliation (ksas)
punishment was not applied. However, according to the penal code, a person who kills someone
purposely should be sentenced to galleys or pranga between 5-10 years in order to constitute a
dissuasive example for the others. Therefore, the murderer was sentenced for six years with
pranga punishment in stanbul. Meclis-i Vala wrote to the provincial council and Zabtiye Miri
of zmir ordering that the murderer should be sent to stanbul.
669
These examples demonstrate
that the duty of Meclis-i Vala to adjudicate conflicts, which could not be solved in provincial
councils as a final court of appeal for criminal cases, was applied in zmir during the Tanzimat
period.

668
zmirli kundurac Istan nam zimminin katl etmi olduu Yanni zimminin veresesi dem ve diyetinden katil-i
mersumun zmmetini ibra eylemi idne binean zuhur- irade-i seniyyeye kadar mahbese ilka olunduu akdemce
ba-mazbata inha olunmu olduundan maktul u mesfurun anas merkume katil-i mersumu bil vekale ve bil-asale
ksastan avf itmi olmasyla katil-i mersum ber-mantuk-I ceza kanunname-i hmayun on be sene mddet vaz-
krek olunmak zere der-saadete gnderilmesi hususunu amil irsal olunan tahriratmza cevaben bu defa vrud
iden bir kta mazbatada katil-i mersum mahbese ilka klnm ve levazm- tefahhuzun icrasndan kusur olunmamu
ise de mersum tuana cesur olduundan ber-takrib prankay ikest iderek habshaneden firar itmi ve her ne kadar
taharri ve tecesss ise de buldurulamams olduundan bundan byle dahi hafi ve celi taharri olunarak ele getii
anda Der-saadete gnderilecei inha ve iar olunmu olub memalik-i hazret-i padiahiye zabta memurlar
ikamesinden murad zabt ve rabt-I memleket ve hilaf- rza harekette bulunanlarn ahz habs ve hfz iden byle bir
zimminin mahbesden firar itdirilerek sonra yle byle idi deyy inha olunmas meclis dahi mazbata itmi
birzimmiyi zabt idemedik dimek olub dorusu ayp ve fenn-I nesip olduundan bu babda memurlarn tedib ve
terbiyesi lazmeden ise de bu defalk sarf- nazar olunarak beher hal mersumu bulup bu tarafa irsal ile hakknda sadr
olan emr irade-yi seniyyenin icrasna ibtidar olunmas meclis-i vala-y adliyede tezekkr olunmu olmala ol
vechile katil-i mersum ber-hal taharri ve tecesss olunarak her nerede ise buldurularak iktizas icra olunmak zere
Der-saadete tisyarna mbaderet ve fi mabaad bu misll halat vukua getirb muateb olduundan kemal-i tevakki
ve mcanebet eylemeniz siyaknda kaime. Fi 13 Cemazl-evvel 1257 (3 July 1841). BOA, Ayniyat Defterleri,
Meclis-i Vala'dan, no. 372, p. 192.
669
mdde-i merkum bil asale katil-i merkumu ksasdan afv itmekle bu suretde fimabad katil-i merkum eren -
-- lazm gelmeyecei tahrir ve imla klnm ve bu makule katilin thmen ve emsalini tarhiben be seneden on be
seneye kadar ve der-saadette zabtiye mahallerinde vaz- krek ve pranka olarak tesviye-i tarik ve --- be msll
hzmetlerde istihdam kanun- ceza iktizasndan baulunmu olduundan katil-I merkumun icra-i mcazat- zmmnda
--- bu tarafa irsaliyle mahallindeki habs tarihinden itibaren alt sene mddet pranka bend olunmas meclis-i vala-y
mezkurda --- ve tensib olunmu olmalaBOA, Ayniyat Defterleri, Meclis-iVala'dan, Tarih, no. 405, 4.2.1847-
18.3.1847, pp. 58-59.
163

The reform edicts of 1839 and 1856 made the non-Muslim communities became under
closer scrutiny of the state. As a mater of fact, their employment in the public service or
administration was depended on "sovereign will" of the Ottoman sultan.
670
The same applied to
all those employed in education, be they teachers or other staff.
The 1856 imperial edict stressed the fact that their employment was determined only by
his sovereign command.
671
In the pre-Tanzimat Ottoman era, the rights and freedoms of the
non-Muslim communities were inherent in the millet system itself and could not be restricted or
changed at will. They were given in perpetuity and therefore "became inherent in the millet itself
without being subject to renewal, abolition or limitation," as it had been since the time of
Mehmed II.
672
In other words, the Sultan stated in the 1856 imperial edict that the millet should
proceed with his high approval and the supervision of his high Porte.
673
Although, this closer
control was clearly expressed in the 1856 imperial edict, archival evidence suggests that, in
zmir, just after the 1839 edict, such a close control of the Greek community had already begun.
Some archival examples concerning this issue follow. A letter from the grand vizierate warned
the muhassl of zmir in 1840 that Greek and Austrian merchants' activities and Greek theatre
plays might lead to hostility and unrest in zmir's society.
674
The grand vizierate ordered the
muhassl that these merchants and the Greek schools and theatres should be checked for their
licenses. If they had no license, they had to be closed and such improper activities had to be

670
See ch. 2, p. 13, 17.
671
The sovereignty was entrusted with the Ottoman sultan himself, as it was re-stressed in the 1856 reform edict:
...As all forms of religion are and shall be freely professed in my dominions...The nomination and choice of all
functionaries and other employees of my empire being wholly dependent upon my sovereign will, all the subjects of
my empire, without distinction of nationality, shall be admissible to public employments, and qualified to fill them
according to their capacity and merit, and conformably with rules to be generally applied.....The nomination and
choice of all functionaries and other employees of my empire being wholly dependent upon my sovereign will, all
the subjects of my empire, without distinction of nationality, shall be admissible to public employments..." J.C.
Hurewitz, Hatt- erif of Glhane, 3 November 1839, in J.C. Hurewitz, The Middle East and North Africa in World
Politics, 2nd. ed., v. I (New Haven, 1975) 269-271.
672
Kemal Karpat, "Millets and Nationality: The Roots of the Incongruity of Nation and State in the Post-Ottoman
Era" in Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, v. I, Ed. Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis, (New York,
London: Holmes & Miller Publishers Inc. 1982) 145.
673
Karpat, 1982 p. 164.
674
BOA, A.MKT, 10/10, 1840.
164

forbidden in the districts of zmir either. Besides, he also warned the muhassl that Greek tragedy
theaters might cause to hatred and instigate unfavorable feelings among the people.
675
It gave as
an example the Greek tragedy play of Marko Boari who was one of the leaders in the Greek
revolt. This indicates that the Ottoman state was sensitive to potential social unrest in the city,
and concerned with the preservation of social order in the multi ethno-religious society of zmir.
We should also take into account the centers concerns about the impact of the nascent Greek
state on the Ottoman Greeks of zmir. Another document that shows the control of the center is a
memorial (tezkire), which was written by the grand vizierate to the kaymakam of zmir in
1844.
676
It concerned with the permission to re-publish the Greek newspaper Amaltheia. In
earlier time, some of its articles were clearly against the Ottoman state that its publishing was
forbidden. In 1844, the state re-allowed its publishing, on the condition that it would not contain
articles or material unfavorable to the state. Moreover, regarding the state's control over the
activities of the Greek community in zmir, we learn that in 1847 an imperial decree was sent to
the muhassl of zmir (akir Bey) ordering the close observation of Greeks in disguise in their
churches and places where they came together (lisana aina iki nefer kullarn tebdil-i came
ile). The muhassl of the city looked into the matter and reported back to the center that the
Greeks expressed their blessings to the sultan in their prayers in the churches. He also mentioned
that the Greeks, including the ones under the protection of Western states, submitted their cizye
papers without any pressure, and that they were very happy with the state's stamp for the
passports of their boats which was free of charge. Foreign consulates charged forty kuru for the
stamping (validation) of a passport (passport debit).
677
In this document we also see that although
the old control practice of disguise (tebdil-i kyafet or tebdil-i came) was abolished by an

675
BOA, A.MKT, 10/10, 1260.2.24, (1844)
676
BOA, A.MKT, 12/67, 1260.5.5, (1844), Appendix-3, Plate 1
677
BOA, A.MKT, 96/37, 1263.10.15 (1846), Appendix-3, Plate 2 & 3
165

imperial edict in 1829,
678
it was remained in use during the Tanzimat era in zmir to control
social conditions. Certain documents indicate that the Ottoman state attempted to prevent the
formation of public opinion against the state through socio-cultural activities of zmir Greeks and
to maintain loyalty to the state through such controlling mechanisms.
The above mentioned documents, on the one hand, illustrate the attempt of the Ottoman
state to express freedom of the non-Muslims become solely dependent on his personal sovereign
will.
679
On the other hand, they assured their rights by both depending on the Tanzimat
regulations and applying pre-Tanzimat principles. In the 19
th
century, while zmir played a
crucial role in transmitting Western ideas and modernizing elements to the Empire, the central
authority attempted to re-integrate zmir into its administrative and political structure through
reform regulations. In other words, Ottoman Empire pushed zmir to re-adjust to its own
principles.
680
The above mentioned archival examples also support this argument. The Ottoman
central authority attempted to adjust zmir to the re-organization through attempts to restrict
influence of the consuls, through the application of the new penal code and closer scrutiny of the
Greek community. As the documents below suggest, the state continued to use pre-Tanzimat
principles in the case of a need either for the sake of social order or for the benefit of non-
Muslims.
In the current historical literature, in general, Tanzimat reforms are evaluated in terms of
how they were disliked by the ordinary Muslim population and how the non-Muslims benefited
from them. It was the dislike of the Muslim population that led to societal problems in some

678
Cevdet Dahiliye, 14243, 7 March 1829 in Cengiz Krl, The Struggle Over Space: Coffeehouses of Ottoman
stanbul, 1780-1845, unpublished dissertation, (Binghamton: Binghamton University, 2000), 272, FN. 50.
679
See ch. 2.1, p. 13.
680
Sia Anagnastopoulou, zmirs National Historical Mission in The Passage from the Ottoman Empire to the
Nation States, A Long and Difficult Process: The Greek Case (Istanbul: The Isis Press, 2004) 76. In zmir from the
18
th
century, the Greek community of the city had been the main group who received this modernization, which was
exprseed by the cosmopolitanism of their schools and newspapers. Ibid., p. 83.
166

other regions of the Ottoman Empire, such as in Ni and Vidin in the Balkans
681
and in the Arab
lands.
682
Historical studies have suggested that this equality with the inferior non-Muslims
annoyed Muslim community, who considered such principles as against their religion and
common will. As such, they considered Tanzimat reforms detrimental to their societal
position.
683
As far as social and political conditions are concerned between 1839 and 1876, we
see insecurity and public disorder in all over the Empire. Insecure environment and public
disorder in western Anatolia showed itself as banditry activities of both Muslims and Greeks
against the state. At the beginning of the 19
th
century, Sultan Mahmud II's centralization policies
had not only broken the notables monopoly over the economy of western Anatolia, but also
sown seeds for the development of the banditry. This threatened social order in the region.
Administrative and financial reforms of the Tanzimat did not provide justice among the social
classes: inequalities in the taxation and tax collection system, reluctance of Ottoman peasants for
conscription to the new army (nizam- cedid), need for the new conscription because of the
continuing wars,
684
corruption in provincial administrations especially after 1864, and increasing
social and economic inequality among the different classes of the society in western Anatolia led

681
The regulations about the taxation system was disliked by the prosperous Muslim and non-Muslim local land
notables in the Balkans and many revolts broke out. In Ni, local affluent Muslim land notables opposed the new
taxation system since they were obliged to pay according to their income level. But, their opposition was against the
state not to the non-Muslim reaya. Moreover, non-Muslim local notables also resisted the new tax system, because
in the past they used to pay the same amount of tax as the poor reaya paid. In Vidin, a serious non-Muslim revolt
occurred against Muslims. These land notables were exploiting the reaya in Vidin, including non-Muslim reaya.
Halil nalck, 1964b, pp. 631, 641-649, Donald Quataert, Main Problems of the Economy during the Tanzimat
Period, in 150. Ylnda Tanzimat, ed. Yldz , Hakk Dursun, Ankara: TTK, 1992) 215. After 1848, the peasantry in
Moldavia and Wallachia became the real revolutionary forces, the peasantry revolt against the Ottoman state in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Albania in the last quarter of the century. Stephen Fischer-Galati, The
Peasantry as a Revolutionary Force in the Balkans, Journal of Central European Affairs 23 (1963-1964) 17-19.
682
Masters, 2001; Makdisi, 2000.
683
Bernard Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, (London, New York, Toronto: Oxford UP, 1961) 105-106;
Enver Ziya Karal, Osmanl Tarihi, v. VI, (Ankara, TTK,1995); 9-10 Davison, 1963, p. 43.
684
1828-29 Otoman-Russia War, French occupation of Algeria in 1829, to where 15,000 soldiers were sent from
western Anatolia, 1854 Crimean War, and 1877-78 Ottoman-Russian War, after which banditry activities started to
increase rapidly. Sabri Yetkin, Ege'de Ekiyalar ("Bandits in the Aegean"), (zmir: Tarih Vakfi Yurt Yaynlar,
1997) 51-64.
167

to the rise of banditry.
685
However, banditry not only belonged to the Ottoman Muslims, but also
to the Ottoman Greeks and Greeks of Greek state.
686
The most famous Greek bandit group,
Katrciyani threatened trade activities through its attacks against caravans and he also abducted
big landowners and tradesmen to mountains to obtain ransom. A German traveler, who visited
zmir in 1852, noted dangerous environment in zmir. He mentioned that because of a big
banditry group, the people who came to zmir from other towns had to carry guns and knifes.
687

An archeologist, Charles Thomas, who stayed in zmir from December 1852 to October 1854,
also noted dangerous situation in the hinterland of zmir because of banditry. According to him
the reason for this insecure environment in zmir was not only the ineffectiveness of the
government, but also the cooperation of European merchants with bandits. He noted that many
European merchants or their staffs were in cooperation with the leader of Greek banditry group,
Katrciyani.
688
Talking about the most known Greek bandits Katrciyani and Simos, an observer
in 1857 in zmir mentioned Greeks talent on such actions, which provided them success during
the Greek revolt:

685
Sabri Yetkin, 1997, 26-37. In the Ottoman archives, there is abandonment of documents about banditry activities
in the western Anatolia. Examples for the banditry can be seen in the correspondences of the provincial council of
zmir: Muhassl of zmir wrote that zmir merchants sent a considerable amount of money (50.000 kuru) to their
partners, who were in Krkaa district of Tire Sancak. This money was usurped around Tahtakpr by some armed
people. A.MKT, 41/68, 1262.Ca.13 (8 June 1845); the muhassl of zmir in his another report to the capital wrote
that fourteen bandits tread on the house of Hac Mustafa and usurped his properties and killed his family. The
muhassl wrote to ask if the application of retailation punishment is suitable or not. A.MKT, 92/44, 1263.8.23 (6
August 1846). In 1264 (1847-1848), the provincial council of zmir wrote a mazbata about the judgement of these
fourteen bandits. A.MKT, 92/42, 1263.8.23 (6 August 1846). The Provincial Council of zmir wrote the details of
the trial of these bandits and the judgement; A.MKT, 107/77, 1264.2.9 (15 January 1848); muhassl of zmir
informed the center that there was a combat struggle between eighteen bandits and gendarmes in the eme district
of zmir. Two bandits were killed and the rest escaped during the combat. A. MKT, 42/75, 1262.Ca.26 (21 June
1846); Jewish Hayim accused Bak Hseyin and Mustafa of killing Osman Tatar and the carts driver, who were
carrying the post bag of zmir. As a result of their trial in the sharia court, Bak Hseyin and Mustafa were not
found guilty. This decision was written in fetvapenahi. A.MKT, 2064/53/32, 1262.Za.6 (25 November 1845).
686
In mountaneous Morea peninsula, because of the geographic and topographic difficulties, it was difficult to deal
with agriculture to provide substance. People of Morea were mostly dealing with maritime activities. After Greeks
established their independent states in Mora Island, they united with Greeks of islands and passed to Aegean coasts
and conducted banditry activities to earn their livelihood. Therefore, they became to threat social security and order
of western Anatolia in all 19
th
century, Yetkin, 1997, p. 52.
687
Julius Heinrich Petermanin zmiri: Temmuz 1852, (Julius Heinrich Petermans zmir: July 1852), quoted in
Pnar, 1994, p. 219.
688
Charles Thoman Newtonin zmiri: Aralk 1852 and 10 Ekim 1854, (Charles Thoman Newtons zmir
December 1852 and 10 October 1854), quoted in Pnar, 1994, pp. 223-224.
168


Greeks only have talent and combination enough for the arduous post of a robber
chiefKatergee and Simos were not execrated by all Greeks as they were by the Europeans. It
was by the klephtae that the insurrection in Greece began. That it was the klepthae, who were
the nuclei of the guerilla bands who harassed, and at last, destroyed the troops of the sultan. All
the Greeks in Smyrna delighted in Simosvictory over the Turks.
689


The discussion below will examine if new regulations and newly founded institutions of the
Tanzimat worked in zmir and how the center and local authority dealt with the conflicts among
people and how they treated the non-Muslim subjects during the age of the reforms.
The correspondence of the Meclis-i Vala with the provincial council, muhassl,
kaymakam, mutasarrf and zabtiye memuru of zmir provide evidence for both state's treatment
of its subjects and the attempts of the state to implement the Tanzimat principles. The archival
evidence suggests that the provincial council of zmir was a working unit and it treated non-
Muslims equally, that they could take back their rights by obtaining an official report (mazbata)
from the provincial council of zmir. In a document concerning a complaint of a Christian
woman, Kolyince, from two Greek male residents of zmir in 1844, we see that she applied to the
central authority via the provincial council and kad of zmir. First, she petitioned to the state to
protect her rights on her erbethane, in which these two non-Muslim men interfered
unnecessarily. She received an ilam from the kad, and mazbata, from the provincial council,
forbidding this interference.
690
Similarly, another Christian woman tried to obtain her right by
applying to the state authorities in 1846. Adifola Barti Belifanti's sister had died without having
children and left two houses as inheritance. Some people unnecessarily interfered in these
houses. Belifanti asked local authorities to solve this problem through giving her a vizierial

689
Nassau William Senior, A Journal Kept in Turkey and Greece in the Autumn of 1857and the Beginning of 1858,
(London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1859) 203-204.
690
The petition of Kolyince, 1260, BOA, A.DVN 9/75, 1844.
169

letter.
691
In a court register of 1858, we see another example of an Ottoman Greek womans
petition to the state. In 1858, Kali applied to the Islamic court when she reached to puberty, to
sue her sister and the representative of her sister, their uncle. She wanted to take her share in the
inherited property of her father. The inherited property was divided after her father's death
according to the representatives wishes, when she was younger. The court accepted her request
and cancelled her representatives' authority and decided to re-hear the case in accordance with
her wish.
692
In another case dating back to 1843, the provincial council of zmir wrote a mazbata
for a Greek mans petition about a matter of a loan: Tana borrowed money from Nikola, who
was a beratl (privileged or merchant with license") European merchant. Although initially
they did not agree on any interest rate for this loan, Nikola, at the end of five years asked for an
interest rate from Tana. He refused to pay it and applied to the council of zmir. The council had
to refer this case to stanbul, to Meclis-i Vala, since one of the parties was a beratl merchant.
693

Such petitions of the non-Muslims to the state authorities not only indicate us the working of the

691
BOA, A.DVN 20/78, 1262, Arzuhal.
692
...mezbur Andriya tarih-i salifz-zikr Karacakoca'da meyhane derununda alet-i carihadan kama ta'bir olunur
bak ile sol br zerinden amden ve bi-gayr- hakk darb ve cerh-i mezkurdan mtees'iren on yedi saat mrurunda
babam mezbur Kalimi vefat itmekle tarih-i mezkurda ben sagire bulunmamla hala sagir olan mezburun Sokula ve
Azmonala ve Atanan tesviye-yi emrimize kbel-i er'iden anamz zevce-yi hazre-yi mezbure vasi-yi mansubemiz
olmakla anamz mezbure tabiye tarih-i mezkurda tesviye-yi emr mm mezbure Kalye ile beraber husus- mazburun
mucebini zikr -i mrr iden Karacakoca mahallesinde mezbur Andriya'dan inkarna mukarin bi'l-asale ve bi'l-vesaye
da'va ve isbata kadireler olmayub ve mezburun dahi yemin edecei mtehakkk ve ol vechle slh-i hakkmzda enfa
ve enla olduuna binean beynlerine anamz hazra-y mezbure ile 'mm-i mezbure Kalye'yi, mezbur Andriya ile
husus- mezkurdan 'an-inkar on bin guru bedel-i medfu ve makbuz sulh olmular ise de elhalet-i hazihi ben bu
def'a baliya olmamla sulh-i mezkura adem-i rza ile diye-i recl olan on bin dirhem er'iden kamilen hisse-yi rsiyemi
tabel iderim deyy da'va idb ve mezbur Andriya dahi mteveffa-y mezburu ber-vech- muharrer dar ve cerh
eyledini mnlkir olub ve husus- mezkure mdde-yi mezburenin ahidleri olmayub ve takrir-i meruhu zere sulh-i
mezkuru bila-beyyine-yi fasihaya kadire olmad kendye tefhim ve da'va-y mezkuresinde mezbur Andriya'ya
bylece er'i mu'arazadan men' olduu huzur- asitanelerine i'lam olundu, 9 Cemaz'l-ahir 1274 (25 January 1857),
zmir eriyye Sicilleri (from know on S), no: 9, p. 54.
693
zmir mtemekkinlerinden etmeki (ekmeki) Tana nam zimmim Hekimolu Nikola nam zimmiden istikraz
etyledii bin guruu beher sene zerine devr-i eri ve ilzam- rbh olunmu deil iken mersum Nikola be sene
zarfnda mersumdan rbh namyla asl- maldan ziyade alt bin alt yz guru ahz itmekle mersum Tana rbh-I
mezburun asl- mal mikdarn asla tutub ziyadesin taleb eyledikde virmeyb gadr-I klli eyledii ve bu babda
davasna muvafk canib-i eyhl-islamiden feva-y erife verildii beyanyla mahallinde er ile riyyet ve ihkak-
hakk olunmak babnda ferman- ali sudurunu mersum Tana ba-arzuhal istida iderek mahallinde erile riyyet
olunmak babnda bir kta ferman- celill-nvan --- sudur itmi ve mersuman meclie celb ve istintak olunmu ise
de mersum Hekimolu Nikola zimmi beratlu Avrpa tacirlerinden bulunmasyle ba-irade-yi seniyye karargir olan
nizamlar mucibince yz elli gurudan ziyade olan ahz ve italarnda davalar zuhur ider ise nizamlarna tatbiken
der-i aliyyede riyyet olunmas icabndan bulunmu olmala mersum Tana ol tarafa avdet eylemi olduunun arz
ve inhas muarznda mazbata-y akeranemiz takdimine ictisar klnmtr ol-babda emr ferman hazret-i
menlehl-emrindir. 1259.10.9 (3 October 1843), BOA, A.MKT, 9/10.
170

council of zmir as a Tanzimat institution, but its predominance over their private courts the non-
Muslims had the right to apply in order to solve their conflicts about matters of inheritance,
marriage-divorce, or inter-communal loan. Therefore, to have an official state document was
safer and more reliable in the case of a potential future conflict. Another document from 1841 is
about the implementation of the adet-i belde principle of the pre-Tanzimat period. Meclis-i Vala
wrote to the provincial council and the zabtiye memuru of zmir ordering the arrest of five non-
Muslim escapees from prison: Bekan Giriya and Marko, who killed a Muslim, a thief called
Yanni, a jeweler called Aleksi who threatened his mother with a knife, and another Yanni who
was accused of conducting fornication (zina) with a Muslim woman. They were all imprisoned
in zmir in 1841. In accordance with the adet-i belde, they were allowed to spend Easter at home
with the guarantee (kefalet) of a Greek kocaba Panako Todoriyo, who was a member of the
provincial council of zmir. But, they broke their prangas and escaped.
694
The negotiation among
the members of the provincial council shows the mutual trust between the Muslim and non-
Muslim members of the council, because if all the members had not ratified the guarantee of the
Greek kocaba, the criminals would not have been allowed to spend Easter at their home. The
council of zmir gave this permission, in spite of their serious crimes, which indicates that the
pre-Tanzimat principle of adet-i belde was still in use. Another case which was registered in
Meclis-i Vala notebook in 1842 was about an arrested Greek man. The Meclis-i Vala asked the
kaymakam of zmir to carry out an investigation to confirm his criminal act: veled-i Andoryan
was arrested by a gendarme (zaptiye) of the town, and sent to stanbul. Since no any register
could be found referring to this criminal act in the Meclis-i Vala records, it asked the kaymakam
of zmir to confirm it.
695
In this case we see that the Meclis-i Vala did not immediately accept the
decision of the local gendarme without proving the reason of his arrest with pranga in

694
BOA, Ayniyat Defterleri, Meclis-i Vala'dan, no. 371, 1841, p. 8, Appendix-3, Plate 5
695
BOA, Ayniyat Defterleri, Meclis-i Vala'dan, n. 376, 1842, p. 26, Appendix-3, Plate 6
171

accordance with the rule of law of the Tanzimat. In another case dating back to 1841, the Meclis-
i Vala wrote about a zimmi called Krdolu, who stole some amount of wheat, and carried it with
a Muslim man vulle Rus Cebeli olu Halil. He bumped into Halil and forced him to carry the
wheat with him. When Krdolu was caught, he said that Halil was his friend so that two of
them were arrested. A woman from zmir (probably Halil's relative) applied to the Meclis-i Vala
for Halil to ask for his release since he was not a friend of Krdolu and forced to do so by him.
He was mistakenly imprisoned. She also asked the Meclis-i Vala the return of the money that
was initially paid for his release. Positively responding to her request, the Meclis-i Vala wrote
that it decided for his release since it was in accordance with the Tanzimat justice.
696
These
examples indicate that the rule of law of the Tanzimat was applied to the non-Muslims, that no
one could be punished without a public trial, as the 1839 Glhane edict stated.
697
In another
record dating back to 1841, the Meclis-i Vala notified the provincial council of zmir about its
decision regarding the punishment of three men, who were accused of being thieves: Arab
Ahmed, Ali and Petros (Bedros). Arab Ahmed and Bedros stole some objects and gave them to
Ali. They were caught, and the stolen objects were handed over to their owner. Ahmed and
Bedros were arrested with pranga, and subjected to work in menial jobs. Since Ahmed was a
previous criminal (sabkal), according to the penal code, he could not be punished in his home

696
"zmir sakinlerinden Krdolu nam zmmi bir mikdar hnta sirkat idb gtrken esna-y tarikde Rus Cebeli olu
Halil nam kimesneye tesadf ve ibram iderek zikr olunan hntay beraber gtrmee raz olub ol-vechile birazn
kends alub gitmi ise de sarik-i mersum burda ele getirilerek merkum Halil dahi refikim idi deyy iftira
eylediinden meclise celb ile cmle muvacehesinde er'an mrafa'a olunmu ise de fuzuli mabese ilka olunarak
salverilmesi in iki bin guru taleb olunmu ve kavasba ma'rifetiyle bin sekiz yz guru ahz olunub merkumun
sebil-i taliye olunmam olduu beyanyla ma'rifet-i er'i ve mecli ma'rifetiyle mebla- mezburun istirdad ve
merkumun tahliye'yi cebili hususu zmir sakinelerinden Emine nam hatun tarafndan ba-arzuhal inha ve istid'a
olunmu ve keyfiyet mukarin-i shhat olduu halde rza-y 'alinin bi'l-vcuh hilaf ve Tanzimat- Hayriyyeye usul-
madelet mulne munafi grnm olduundan olbabda mebla- mezbur ise ma'rifet-i er'i ve meclisce tahsili ve
merkumun dahi sebilinin tahliyesi hususuna hmmet eylemeniz siyaknda ukka. 6 Safer 1257 (28 February 1841),
BOA, Ayniyat Defterleri, Meclis-i Vala'dan, no. 370, p. 10, Appendix-3, Plate 7
697
"...from now on, every defendant shall be entitled to a public hearing according to the rules of the eriat after
inquiry and examinations; and without the pronouncement of a regular sentence no one may secretly or publicly put
another to death by poison or by any other means....The Muslim and non-Muslim subjects of our lofty sultanate shall
without exception, enjoy our imperial concessions. Therefore, we grant perfect security to all the populations of our
empire in their lives, their honour and their properties, according to the sacred law. Hatt- erif of Glhane, in
Hurewitz, 1975, pp. 269-271.
172

town. He should be sent to stanbul with three years galleys punishment. As for Bedros, pranga
punishment of three years and working in menial jobs were decided by the Meclis-i Vala in
accordance with the new penal code. Since Ali did not directly involved in stealing, and the
stolen objects were submitted to their owners, he was set free with a strict warning by the
provincial council. The Meclis-i Vala asked the provincial council of zmir that when Bedros
completes his punishment, a memorial, tezkire, should be written to set him free.
698
This
document is also an example for the implementation of the Tanzimat policy of the state in
treating its ethnically diverse population. The Meclis-i Vala registers addressed to the local
officials suggest also evidence for the cooperation and ongoing communication between the
center and the local administration of zmir, including its inner districts for the inauguration of
the reforms. However, the important point was that whether the local administrative units and
governors were capable of implementing reform principles or not. In the case of zmir, the
examples of the correspondences between central authority and local governors of zmir suggest
that they obeyed Tanzimat principles regarding the issues of equality on judicial matters.
However, as the documents below suggest during the integration process, the center
continued to use pre-Tanzimat principles in the case of need either for the sake of social order or

698
Arab Ahmed ve ermeni taifesinden Bedros nam ahslarn sirkat thmetiyle mttehem olduklar ve merkum
arab Ahmed ald eyay Tabzonlu Ali bin Hasan nam kimesneye teslim eylemi olduu krarlaryla tebeyyn
itmi olduundan eya-y mehuze bil-istirdad sahibine teslim olunmu ve bu makule sariklerin mahallinde pranka-
bend olarak hdemat- sfliyede istihdamlar zeyl-i kanunname-i hmayun hkm iktizasndan ise de merkum Arab
Ahmed sabkaolarak mahallinde mtenebbih olmayacandan vaz- krek olunmak zere bu tarafa gnderlb
refik-i merkum Ali sarik-i mersum Bedros ol tarafta tevkif klnm olduu bu mazbata ve ilam inha olunmu
idnden keyfiyet meclis-i ahkam- adliyeye ledel-havale merkumlardan Arab Ahmed ve Bedrosun sirkatinin
tebeyn idb eya-y mehuze dahi sahiblerine teslim olunmu ve bunlardan mersum Arab Ahmed sabkal
olduundan bu tarafa gnderilmi olmasyla ceza kanunname-i hmayunu iktizasnca merkumun habs tarihinden
itibaren sene mddet vaz- krek olunmas ve sarik-i merkum eyay mesrukay merkum Aliye virmi ise de
biz-zat maddeyi sirkatte bulunmam ve eyay merkum sahibine teslim olunmu olduuna binaen merkum Alinin
imdiye kadar mahbusiyeti hakknda ceza olmak badezin bu makule kabahatte bulunmamak zere meclisce
tembihat- ekidenin icrasyla sebili tahliye klnmak ve merkum Bedros dahi habs tarihinden itibaren mahallinde
sene mddet pranka-bend c olarak hdemat- sfliyede istihdam ve yedine sahiha-y vaka ve mddet
muayyenesini bil-ibraz sebilinin son bulduktan sonra tahliyesi in meclisce tezkire ita olunmas hususu meclis-i
vala-y mezkurda tensib ve meclis-i ali-yi umumide dahi tecekkr ve tasvib olunmu ve irade-yi seniyye-yi hazret-i
padiahi dahi bu merkezde eref-sunuh ve sudur buyrulmu olunmala ber-muceb-i vaz olunduundan merkum
Arab Ahmed kree vaz olunduundan merkum Alinin tahliye-yi sebili ve mersum Bedrosun dahi mahalllinde
c sene mddet ile pranka-bend olarak ol-vechile yedine tezkire itas hususuna mbaderet eylemeniz siyaknda
ukka 14 Safer 1257 (5 February 1841), BOA, Ayniyat Defterleri, Meclis-iVala'dan, no. 370, 1841, p. 18,
Appendix-3, Plate 8
173

for the benefit of non-Muslims and Muslims in accordance with the equality principle of the
Tanzimat. For example, in 1847, two Greek men, Yorgi and his brother Argiri, attacked a man
called Nikudis. They covered his eyes and stole his money and some of his belongings at
Sleyman Paa Tower in the Karantina district of zmir. Nikudis did not see them in person
during the attack, but claimed that he recognized them from their voices and words. The reason
for their arrest was not because of the certainty of their guilt, but because they had records of
their previous crimes (sabka). They denied the accusation and asked for their release.
699
Since
no one could prove that they were guilty, they were released by the presentation of a witness
(kefil). In the pre-Tanzimat, the rule of mteselsil kefalet of Islamic law was applied in the
trials.
700
In the system of mteselsil kefalet, each member of the society constituted a witness for
another member and, that a testimony from the same neighborhood was enough for someone to
be released.
701
This example shows that the Meclis-i Vala decided not only according to the new
penal code of 1840, which forbade the imprisonment of any subject without a trial,
702
but also
considered the mteselsil kefalet tradition of the earlier period. Another case dating back to 1848
is also about the rule of the mteselsil kefalet. It was applied for the banishment of an Armenian
man from his neighborhood because of his unsuitable and threatening attitudes: An Armenian
man disturbed his neighbors and threatened them by carrying gun. The Meclis-i Vala wrote to the
muhassl of zmir and ordered his banishment until he corrects his misbehaviors. However, it
also stated that if he corrects his attitudes and finds a trustable person to be his witness from his
neighborhood, he should be pardoned and discharged.
703
This example also indicates the

699
BOA, A.MKT, 60/67, 1263.1.13, (1846).
700
zer Ergen, Osmanl Klasik Dnemi Kent Tarihiliine Katk, 16.yyda Ankara ve Konya, [A Contribution to
the Urban History, Ankara and Konya in the 16
th
century], (Ankara: Ankara Enstits Vakf Yaynlar, 1995)147.
701
zer Ergen, Osmanl ehrindeki Mahallenin lev ve Nitelikleri zerine, [About the functions and qualities
of mahalle in Ottoman Cities] in Osmanl Aratrmalar, v. 4, Istanbul, 1984, 73.
702
Ekrem Bura Ekinci,, Osmanl Mahkemeleri, Tanzimat ve Sonras [Ottoman Courts, Tanzimat and After],
(Istanbul: Ar, 2004) 126.
703
zmir mtemekkinlerinden ve Ermeni milletinden aml olu Ohanis nam zimminin silah tamak ve una buna
atale-i lisan itmek misll uygunsuzluundan dolay kaza-i mezburda mtemekkin ermenilerin klliyen kendisinden
emniyetleri tesebbb olmu idne mebni mersumun bir mnasib mahalle nefyi ve takribiyle icra-i tedib ve
174

implementation of mteselsil kefalet tradition of the pre-Tanzimat period in the Tanzimat period.
However, archival material also represents some sporadic examples that the pre-Tanzimat rules
alone used in judicial matters: Three Greek men came to zmir in 1847 for trade. They were
arrested and penalized with condemnation for galleys because of a theft imputation (thmet).
Denying this imputation, they applied to the local officials to be released. When prison notebook
(zindan defteri) was checked, it was seen that they were imprisoned by the theft imputation a
year ago, and brought to stanbul. This meant they were imprisoned not by a definite court
decision, but only by imputation, and spent a year in prison. The head of the Meclis-i Vala, Halil
Rfat, wrote to the Provincial council of zmir that they should be released.
704
In fact, according
to the principle of the rule of law of the Tanzimat, no one could be imprisoned without public
trial. In this case they were imprisoned by depending on an imputation as it happened in the pre-
Tanzimat period.

terbiyesi hususu millet-i merkuma tarafndan ba-mahza niyaz ve istida klnm olduu beyanyla icra-y icab
hususu tarafnzdan ba-tahriratkeyfiyet meclis-i vala-y ahkam- adliyeye havale ile siyak- istidaya
nazaren...mersum bir sene mddetle nefy veyahud pranka-bend olunub mddeti iinde slah- nefs ider ve kavi kefil
irae edebilir ise sebil-i tahliye ve idemedii takiderde mddet-i tahdid klnm kanun- ceza iktizasndan
bulunduuna mebni istida olunduu vechle mersumun bir sene mddetle derun- sancakda mnasib mahale nefy ve
tagrib olunub mddet-i merkum iinde kabul-i terbiye iderek ve kendsnden emniyet hasl itdirerek ahaliden kefil-i
iraye edebilr ise ' afv ve tlak hususu meclis-i vala'ya mezkurede mzakere ve tensib klnm olunmala olvechile
icra-y iktizas hususuna hmmet eylemeniz siyaknda ka'ime. 16 Muharrem 1263 (4 December 1846), BOA,
Ayniyat Defterleri, Meclis-i Vala'dan, zmir Muhasslna, no. 405, p. 99.
704
Selanikli Kostantin veled-i Vasil ve Trhalal stirati veled-i Tana ve Yanyal Nikola veled-i Dimitri nam
zmmiler eclid ticare zmir'de vak Boz karyesinde bulunduklar halde ahz ve grift ile caninb-i tersane-yi amireye
isal olunub vaz'- krek olunduklarndan bahisle sebillerin tahliyesi hususunu mersumun savb- alilerine arzuhal
i'tasyla niyaz ve istirham eylemi olduklarndan mahbusiyetleri keyfiyeti zindan defterlerinden lede's-sual sirkat
thmetiyle ahz ve grift ile geen sene donanma-y hmayun ol tarafda bulunaca esnada teslim olunarak der
sa'adete muvasalatlarnda selef-i acizi devletl Paa hazretlerinin ifahen vak' olan ifadelerine mebni fi 24 Ramazan
sene 63 tarihinde vaz'- krek olunduklar zindan- mezkur defterlerinde mukayyed olaca 'arz- hali mezkur zerine
mahrec derkenarda izah ve beyan olunmu ise de mersumlarn fi'l hakika sirkat thmetiyle ahz ve girft olunub
olunmadna da'ir ol tarafdan henz bir i'ar vuku' bulmam ve mddet-i habsleri dahi haylce vakd olmu
olduundan mersumun derece-yi thmetlerine gre mddet-i habsleri mahalle meclisinde kararlatrlmtr ve bir
gune iradesi var mdr ve imdiki halde haklarnda ne mu'amele olunmak icab ider buralarnn bi'l-etraf bilmesi
lazm gelerek keyfiyyet-i zmir muhassl sa'adetl efendinin bendeleri canibinden ba-tahrirat --- lede'l-isti'lam ol
babda zmir muhasslndan tevart leffen takdim klnan mazbata da mersumlar sarik ve ekiya gruhundan
olduklar tahrir ve beyan olunmu olmala bu babda ne vechile emir ve irade-yi aliyye-yi vekalet penahileri
mte'allk buyurulur ise icra-y savb- ibtidar olunmak zere savb- akeriye beyan ve i'ar babnda emr- ferman
hazret-i men leh'l emrindir. Fi 28 Zi'l-kaide 1263, Halil. 28 Zi'l-kaide 1263, BOA, Meclis-i Vala Reisi Halil
Rfat'n Yazs [The writing of the head of the Meclis-i Vala, Halil Rfat], 1263.12.28 (2 November 1846), BOA,
A.MKT, 103/40, Appendix-3, Plate 4
175

Consequently, such typical archival documents for the case of zmir suggest that the
Ottoman Empire struggled to integrate its western periphery to the center by applying Tanzimat
regulations.
705
The archival evidence also indicates that during the period of transition in zmir,
no radical break from the pre-Tanzimat rules or habits of the government officials occurred. In
other words, a dualism occurred during this period, it was a blend of both pre-Tanzimat and
Tanzimat regulations in order to provide and maintain cohesion by entrenching the sense of
Ottomanism. The example documents discussed in this section indicate not only genuine efforts
of the Ottoman Empire to apply the principles of the Tanzimat, but also its attempt to combine its
pre-Tanzimat regulations, originating from its traditional Islamic character, with the Western
political and social notions. In other words, Tanzimat period might be seen as the struggle of the
Ottoman Empire to integrate itself into Western world by forming its own value and political
system. It attempted to provide this integration by re-gaining its strong centralization, which
required integrating its peripheries into the center. While the state used both the pre-Tanzimat
and Tanzimat premises in order to entrench the notion of Ottomanism for social unity and
cohesion, it also increased its control mechanisms over its provinces. As far as zmir is
concerned, it attempted to do this through local officials. It regularly communicated with the
local authorities and asked local rulers to check the social and cultural activities of the zmir
Greeks, to restrict influence of the consuls, and continuously sent warning letters (from Meclis-i
Vala-yi Divan- Adliye to the local rulers in zmir and in general in western Anatolia) stressing

705
Many vizierial letters or notes from the Meclis-i Vala, which were addressed to the governor of provinces or
mutasarrfs, are available in the Ottoman arhives. They ordered prevention of any contrary actions against the
Tanzimat regulations and attentive application of them, BOA, A.MKT, 213/2 1265.8.21 (12 June 1848), A.MKT,
235/93. Provincial council of Iannina, in responding to the center, stated in its mazbata that the Tanzimat rules and
laws were strictly obeyed in Iannina, where people live in completely just environment. 1265.9.13 (30 July 1848),
A.MKT, 217/8. Meclis-i Vala issued the regulations of the Tanzimat to the distant districts of the Empire (tara). In
this text, Meclis-i Vala warned the local officials in tara that the new rules and regulations of the Tanzmat should
be obeyed and necessary inspections should be made to see if the new regulations were obeyed. BOA, Cevdet
Adliye section (C.ADL), n. 843, 2 Zil-kaide 1261 (2 November 1845); In another document, an official from tara
informed Meclis-i Vala that thay received its orders about the formation of large and small provinvial councils in
accordance with the Tanzimat regulations and the premises of the new penal code. Ibid., C.ADL, n. 842, without
date.
176

the importance of the implementation of the new regulations. zmir integrated with the center but
also kept its local character. This helped to maintain its social cohesion in spite of the all
unfavorable events at the end of the 18
th
and in the second decade of the 19
th
century. zmir came
to represent the modern face of the Ottoman Empire with its well functioning multi ethno-
religious society that was the ideal of the modernizing state. As the state applied its reform
regulations, the local urban, social-cultural and economic characters of zmir did not weaken,
instead they strengthened. The working of this process of coexistence of strong locality and
centralization will be discussed in chapter 5.
As far as the relations between economic and social order of zmir is concerned in the
19
th
century, it has been argued that the non-Muslim involvement in western Anatolian money-
lending and industry aggravated the severe tensions which in a short period of time led to the
disintegration of the Ottoman society.
706
Depending on Ottoman-Turkish archival material and
Greek newspapers of the given period of this study (1826-1864), this study indicates that such
severe tensions did not occur in zmir during the 19
th
century, until the first decade of the 20
th

century, until 1912 when the CUP began to terrorize businesses of the Greeks along the western
coastline in the name of national economy policies. zmir Greeks had experienced hard times
with the local powers and a few fanatic Turks during the Greek revolt, whereas we do not have
any evidence for a widespread hostility between Greeks and Turks in the city. The Greek and
Turkish communities of zmir melted sporadic aggressive events within the cohesion they
developed over the centuries. The scholarly
707
and some amateur social histories of the city
708

did not indicate any proof for existence of such severe tensions among the communities of

706
Goffman, 1999, p. 127.
707
Frangakis-Syrett, 1992; Kasaba, 1988a; Tuncer Baykara, zmir ehri Tarihi [History of City of zmir]. zmir: E
Matbaas, 1974.
708
nar Atay, Tarih inde zmir, [zmir in History], (zmir: n.p.,1978); Rauf Beyru, 19. Yzylda zmir'de Yaam
[The Life in zmir in the 19
th
Century]. (stanbul: Gzel Sanatlar Eitim Vakf, 2000); Adnan Bilget, Son Yzylda
zmir ehri 1848-1949 [City of zmir in the Last Century], (zmir: n.p., 1945); Musa adrc, "Tanzimat Dnemi'de
zmir [zmir in the Tanzimat Era], ada Trkiye Tarihi Aratrmalar Dergisi v.1, n..3 (1993); Raif Nezih,
zmir'in Tarihi ("History of zmir"), 1927.
177

zmir. However, some observers and diplomats noted the tension originated from the economic
inequality between Ottoman Greek subjects and Greeks of zmir under the protection of Greece
or European states and Turks: In 1857, Herr Speiegelthal, who spend some time in Asia Minor,
talked to Senior Nassau about the feelings of Christian population in zmir: Their hatred of the
Turks increases as their (Greeks) own wealth, intelligence, and numbers increase, and the
Turkish rules becomes more and more corrupt and oppressive.
709
In one of the reports of the
British consulate it was mentioned that The Christian races are buying up the Turks; the Turks,
handicapped by conscription, fall into the hands of some Christian usurious bankers (Armenian,
Greek, or occasionally European) to whom the whole property or estate is soon sacrificed.
710

Charles Eliot, a British diplomat, also noted this:

But when force does not rule, when progress, commerce, finance and law give the mixed population of the
Empire a chance of redistributing themselves according to their wits, the Turk and the Christian are not
equal; the Christian is superior. He acquires the money and land of the Turk, and proves in a law court that
he is right in so doing.
711


Mr.Homer, a Greek resident in zmir, also commented on the impact of the reforms on the Greek
subjects and Turks of zmir:

The increased security of life and property has enabled the Christians to oust the Turks from many of the
employments which were formerly open to them. Our increasing wealth produces a more than
proportionate expenditure on education. Whether there is a Greek village, there is a school. Small as our
numbers are, there are then, perhaps twenty, perhaps fifty educated Greeks for one educated Turk. Every
post requiring knowledge, diligence, or intelligence is filled by a Greek. Whenever a Turk borrows, the
lender is a Greek. Whenever a Turk sells, the purchaser is a Greek, and seldom that a Turk borrows without

709
Senior, 1859, pp. 195-196.
710
Report on Trade FO 78/96, Reply to Questionnaire FO 78/1525 quoted in Issawi, 1999, p. 9.
711
Quoted in Issawi, 1999, p. 9.
178

having soon to sell. The proud Turks are thus becoming an inferior race in their own country. They appear
still to retain its administration, they are the pashas, beys, mollahs, and kads, but for the details of their
administration they are forced to trust to Greeks; and those who managed the details of business, especially
when a Turk is the superior, are the real administrators.
712


The subordinate position of the Muslims in economic terms compared to the Greeks was part of
reality in zmir, as it was in all over the Empire. Presence of such mutual unpleasant ideas of
both communities should be regarded as a normal societal development in zmir in the period of
transformation. In the processes of social change and transformation emergence of different and
conflicting ideas should be considered natural, especially in the multi ethno-religious societies.
In other words, such conflicting ideas and some occasional aggressive events do not indicate us
presence of a general communal conflict in zmir. Travelers and diplomats noted a general unrest
in the society of zmir in the 1820s, but none of them noted serious widespread conflict between
the Turks and Greeks in zmir, neither during the Greek revolt nor in the years following it. As
far as economic relations are considered, commercial competition caused a conflict between the
Greek and Armenian communities in zmir. However this never turned out to be a serious violent
conflict.
713
Orthodox antagonism towards the Catholics was a well known issue in zmir. zmir
Greeks even blamed them to side with the Turks in Chios massacres during the Greek revolt.
714

This hostility led to an aggressive event in zmir in 1818 but it remained as a low level violence,
when actual killings happened in the same year in Aleppo where eleven people were killed.
715
It

712
Nassau, 1859, p. 214.
713
Beyru, 2000, p. 144.
714
Ibid., p. 144, FN. 390. A traveler noted that son of one of the prominent Greek families of zmir converted to
Islam. His father was so sorry that a Greek priest was trying to comfort him with these words I understand your
sadness but you should find a good thing in every bad thing, what if your son converted to Catholic instead of
Islam. Quoted in Beyru, 2000, p. 145, FN.393.
715
Richard Clogg, The Greek Millet in the Ottoman Empire, in Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, v.I,
eds. Benjamin Braude & Bernard Lewis, (New York, London: Holmes & Meier Publishers Inc., 1982) 191. The
origin of the Orthodox hatred of the Latin traced back to the declining period of the Byzantine Empire in that Latins
tried to instigate the Orthodoxes for submission to the Rome in return for the assistence against the Ottoman threat.
However, a high official declared that he would prefer to see Muslims turban instead of Latins mitre. Ibid.
179

is known that in the 1840s and 1870s some unfavourable events occurred between Greeks and
Jews in zmir. The newspaper Lechole de lorient noted in 28 April 1843 that Greeks of zmir
disturbed and insulted Jews in the streets that the police should interfere in such insulting
attitudes against innocent Jews.
716
The most well known conflict between Greeks and Jews
occurred in 1870s in zmir and it turned out to be attacks against the Jews. This did not originate
from economic reasons or commercial competition between the two communities, but because of
some religious prejudgements of each party: The Greeks believed that the Jews needed blood of
a child in their religious days.
717
A suffocated Greek child was found at the seaside in zmir. The
Greeks accused the Jews of torturing and killing the child. As a result of this accusation, the
zmir Jews could not go out of their houses for several days. Some Greeks attacked Jews that two
people died and twenty people were injured. The newspapers La Turquie (7 May 1872) and New
York Times (31 May 1872) announced this event in detail, and foreign consuls also mentioned
this event in their correspondence.
718
Similar events re-occurred in 1873 in the neighbouring
regions, in Chios, eme, Urla and Marmara Island, and
719
in Kirmasl district of zmir, where
some Greek children were lost and Greeks again held the Jews to be responsible.
720
In 1872, in
Karata district of zmir, and in Manisa, some news spread that the Jews kidnapped some
children. In Manisa the kidnapped child was a Turkish child, and Greek and Armenian people
joined with the Turks to attack the Jews.
721
As for the event in Karata, a Greek woman blamed
some Jewish fishermen for kidnapping her son. As a result of interrogation, it was understood
that the lost child was not kidnapped. He hid himself in the house and he was found there. As a
result, she was punished by imprisonment in the building of the English consulate (since she was

716
Quoted in Beyru, 2000, p. 151.
717
Beyru, 2000, p. 150.
718
Quoted in Beyru, 2000, FN. 411-416, pp. 151-152.
719
London Times, 23 May 1872 quoted in Beyru, 2000, p. 153, FN. 420.
720
London Times, 6 December 1873 quoted in ibid., FN. 421.
721
Beyru, 2000, p. 153.
180

from Malta).
722
Such kind of conflicts between communities does not indicate us the presence of
a general severe tension which seriously threatened the general social order of the city. The
conflict between Greeks and Jews and the commercial competition between Greeks and
Catholics did not result in serious violent social conflict in zmir. Moreover, the prominence of
the non-Muslims in the economic life of zmir did not cause Muslims violent reaction against
the non-Muslim Ottomans and foreigners during the Tanzimat years. The possible reasons of this
social cohesion and interaction between the Greek and Turkish communities of zmir will be
discussed in the following chapter.
In considering the impact of the Tanzimat on the Greek community of zmir, the
evidence presented here indicates that the prime concern of the authorities in Istanbul was to
maintain social order which meant in reality that the community was given considerable freedom
even as center tightened its control over the inhabitants of the city. Moreover, the Porte
attempted to integrate its peripheries into the center in the Tanzimat period. To put in another
way, it developed strategies during this process of integration to provide an order of
geographical homogeneity.
723
This process of integration was constructed between the Porte
and people of zmir, between local rulers and people of the city, and between local
administration and the imperial government. The following chapter will confirm that the central
and local authorities encouraged rather than discourage harmony among the communities of
zmir.

722
Ibid., p. 153.
723
Jens Hanssen, Practices of Integration, Center-Periphery Relations in the Ottoman Empire, in The Empire in
the City, Arab Provincial Capitals in the Late Ottoman Empire, eds, Jens Hanssen, Thomas Philipp, Stefan Weber,
(Beirut: Ergon Verlag Wrzburg in Kommission, 2002), 59.
181
Chapter 5. Communal Relations, Post 1840s
By the beginning of the 19
th
century the Ottoman non-Muslim and Muslims along with
Western merchant communities had entrenched themselves very well into the social fabric of
zmir in peaceful terms. As it is indicated in the earlier chapters, zmir overcame the negative
effects and social unrest caused by the unexpected Greek massacres in 1770, which was
accompanied by the initial Greek revolt in Morea, the big Greek causalities in the 1797 Janissary
uprising, the Navarin defeat of the Ottomans, and the harsh treatment of zmir Greeks by some
local powers in the initial years of the Greek revolt (1821-1830). In spite of these unfavorable
events, zmir could stay away from the effects of the Western notions of nationalism and
ethnicity through its dynamics and local character during the Tanzimat age. What were these
peculiar dynamics that strengthened the locality of zmir and provided social order and cohesion
among various ethno-religious communities? Was there any interaction between Greek and
Turkish communities? And, how did the Ottoman center respond to strong local character of
zmir during the centralizing reforms? These will be discussed in the below.
Driven by the evidence used in this study, I determined to use the following categories to
organize the discussion of inter-communal relations: property agreements and social interaction
drawn from court records; relations of the communities with the local authorities and their sense
of belonging to the city, drawn largely from the Greek newspapers, and ommercial relations
drawn from diverse sources As the following discussion indicates, there is enough evidence to
argue that the people of zmir lived together, colloborated and interacted.





182

Greek-Turkish Property Relations:
Court registers of zmir indicating property relations between Ottoman Greeks and Turks
demonstrate the level of interaction between them during the Tanzimat years. In 1853, in the
Hatuniye district of zmir, a Muslim man, Mehmed, his mother and his sisters owned seven
houses jointly. The houses were bordered by each other. He sold all these houses and their land
to another Muslim man, Veliyd-din bn-i Mustafa. In the court, in 1853, he described the
location of the houses and assented to this sale. These seven houses were located among
workshops of zmir Greeks: the one side of the houses was adjoined to the shop of woodworker
Dimitri, the other side to the ranch house of Andonaki, and the other side to the cellar of
Andonaki, and the forth side faced the public road.
724
The buyer and seller were Muslims but we
see that these Muslim houses were located in the middle of the properties of zmir Greeks. This
coexistence does not prove an intimate relationship, but the long duration of this relationship is
important. Here I will deal with some very typical sicil examples mentioning such long lasting
relations between Greeks and Muslims. In a case dating back to 1847, a man called Alexander,
his siblings, and two representatives of a non-Muslim, Millaki were present in the court in order
to conclude the rental of a Muslim mans land, Ahmed. His land was adjoined to the house of the
Greek merchant, Millaki, and a French church on two sides. (The other two sides were public
roads). Initially, the merchant Millaki rented this Muslim mans land and built a house on it. The

724
Medine-i zmirde Hatuniyye mahallesi ahalisinden nevsinden asl validesi Aye bint-i brahim bin Abdullah ile
karnda Hatice bint-i Hac Hafz Mehmed ibn brahim nam hatunlar tarafndan husus- atide vekilleri olduu zat-
mazburetan arifan Ali Bey ibn-i mer ve Zeynel Abidin Efendi ibn-i Halil nam kimesneler ehadetleriyle
mahzarihun hacette bir nehc-i eri lahk olan Ahmed ibnel-merkum Hac Hafz Mehmed meclis-i erde ibu
baisl-kitab demirci veliyyd-din Bey ibn-I Mustafa mahzarnda bil-asale ve bil vekale ikrar- tam ve takrir-i
kelam idb Sakz Hannda kain bir taraf bakkal Dimtrinin doramac dkan ve bir taraf Dandariyye Andonaki
Frenkhanesi ve bir taraf yine merkumun mahzeni ve taraf- rabii tarik-i amm ile mahdud birbirine muttasl yedi
bab menzilin ebniyeleri aheri mlk ve arsalar uyuen mlkmz olmala salifl-beyan arsalar tarafeyneden icab
ve kabul havi urut- mfsideden ari bey-i bati-i sahih-i eri ile drtbinsekizyz guru senenin makbuz- merkum
velid-din Beye bil-asale ve bil-mekale bey ve temlik ve teslim eylediimde ol dahi bir vech- muharrer itira ve
temellk ve tesellm ve kabz ve kabul idb meb-i mezburun tahrir ve gybetine mteallka davadan herbirimiz
aherin zmmetini kabul havi ibra ve skat eyledik Fimabad mezkur arsalarda bizim asla ve kata alaka ve
medhalimiz kalmayub mteri-yi merkumun mlk-i mteras ve hakk-I sahi olmutur didid de gbbet-I tasdik-I
eri ma-vaka bit-taleb ketb olundu fil-yevm yevml-hamis aer min evvalil-mkerrem sene tisa ve sttin ve
muyeteyn ve elf. S, n.2, p. 3, 15 evval 1269, (22 July 1852).
183

Greek man, Alexander, and his siblings rented this land from Millaki, with icare-yi tavile, which
meant a long term rental, and according to rf-i belde, a local custom, they built a Frank house
on it and had a license from the state (gedik) to run this Frank house.
725
Here, we need to clarify
three basic concepts, which will help us to understand the long lasting property relations between
Greeks and Muslims. The first one is icare-yi tavile. In Islamic law, it is a long term form of rent
between 49 and 99 years for the possession of the property or to construct a building on it.
726

This possession type indicates to us a relationship of almost a century. When someone possessed
a piece of land with icare-yi tavile, he not only had the right to construct a building on it, but also
the right to sell this building whose land was owned by someone else. Another term in this
document to be explained is rf-i belde gedii. Gedik as a term alone means the right to run a
place without possessing its land, like a long-term lease. At the same time, gedik was the right of
practicing handicraft or making trade. This right was given by the state as a license. Those who
had this license also had the right to put their possessions on this immovable property.
727
As we
see in the above example, the Greeks sold their right to run the place (gedik) to the Greek
merchant, Millaki. rf-i belde gedii was a possession type (tasarruf dzeni) that had emerged
as a tradition in western Anatolia, especially in zmir, Bursa and Manisa as a result of the
population increase in urban area and the demand of artisans and tradesmen for land.
728
In this
example, the right of rf-i belde gedii belonged to the Greeks but the land itself belonged to a
Muslim. In other words, on the same land we see two types of disposal. Another record, dating

725
S, n.2, p. 3, 29 evval 1263, (28 October 1846).
726
mer Nasuhi Bilmen, Hukuk- slamiyye ve Istlahat Fkhyye, v.6 (stanbul: Bilmen Yaynlar, 1985) 58, 193;
Ahmet Akgndz, slam Hukuku ve Osmanl Tatbikatnda Vakf Messesesi, (Ankara: TTK, 1988) 354-356; The
Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, (Leiden, 1971), v. III, 1017. In the sources related to icare-i tavile we see
that icare-i tavile was a log term rental of vakf properties and possessions. However, in the sicils of zmir we see
that it was also used as a long term rental of the land and possessions between the individuals belongings. mer
Nasuhi Bilmen also mentioned that individuals themselves could rent their possessions to others for a long period of
time, which could also exceed their life period. Bilmen, 1985, p. 193.
727
M. Tului Snmez, Osmanldan Gnmze Toprak Mlkiyeti, Aklamal Szlk (Ankara: Yaymevi, 1996), 2
nd

ed. 1998, 64-65; Hilmi Ergney, Trk Hukunda Lgat ve Istlahlar, (stanbul: Yenilik Basmevi, 1973), 133-134;
mer Hilmi Efendi, thaf-l Ahlaf fi Ahkam-il Evkaf, (Ankara: Vakflar Genel Mdrl Yaynlar, 1977), 17.
728
Snmez, 1998, p. 225.
184

back to 1857 serves as an example for the important economic relations between Muslims and
Greeks in the period. A Muslim man, Ahmed Aa, one of the land notables of zmir had died,
and his son inherited a considerable amount of money. His wife was the representative of his
son. A Muslim man, Osman Efendi, represented the wife and son of the late Ahmet Aa in court.
The case involved a Greek man, Andonaki, as well, to whom Osman Efendi had made a sizable
loan from the boys inherited money [two hundreds Ottoman gold lira (mecidiye)]. The Greek
man, Andonaki, used his house as a pledge for the loan to Osman Efendi. His house was quite
big and it was located in a wealthy district in the Aya Dimitri neighbourhood. Andonaki had
agreed with Osman Efendi that if he could not pay back his loan, Osman Efendi would sell his
house in return for the loan, and would return the remaining amount to him.
729
The transaction
was recorded in the court. This document constitutes a typical example not only regarding
economic relations, but also long lasting social relations between the Greeks and Turks of zmir.
Moreover, the efendi title implies that Osman Efendi was from the ulema class (religious
clergy) or a bureaucrat. Hence, his social position determined his reliability and ability to
become a representative of both the Greek and Muslim parties. This also shows us that the
relationship between them was not very formal, and that it depended on mutual trust. In addition

729
Medine-i zmirde Kasab Hzr mahallesinde mtemekkin tebaa-y devlet-i aliyyeden mimar olu Andonaki
veled-I Yorgi meclis-i eri-i hatr-i lazmt-tevkirde medine-i mezburede Cami-i Atik mahallesinde sakin iken
bundan akdem vefat iden Arbozi Osman Aa bib Halilin sulbi sagir olu Ahmed Efendinin validesi ve vakt-
rd ve sadadiyete dein tesviye-yi umuruna kble-eriden vasi-i mansubesi baisl-kttab Fatme Hatun
tarafndan vekil-i msecceli Osman Efendi bin erif Ali mahzarnda krar- tam ve takrir-i kelam idb muma ileyh
Osman Efendi sagir-i merkumun malinden bilvekalebana eda ve teslim ben dahi ve kabz ve umuruma sarfla itlaf
eylediim yalnz iki yz adet mecidiye altunu denim mukabelesinde hala taht- temellkmde olan Kasab Hzr
Mahallesinde Aya Dimitri nam mahalde mekan kain Aya Kasu dimekle mehur bir taraf Hamamc Nayaku ve bir
taraf Mariko menzilleri ve taraf- rabi tarik-i amm ile mahdud fevkani bir bab ve tahtani drt bab oda ve bir
miktar bae ve arsa ve mtemilat saire-yi --- ml menzilimi rehn badet-tahliye-yi eriyyeye teslim eylediimde
ol dahi ber-vech-i muharrer irtihan ve tesellm ve kabz itmekle denim olan sabkkz-zikr iki yz aded yzlk
mecidiye altunun sagir-i merkumun mlk merhumu olub semeni isbu tarih-i vesikadan bir seneye meccel vekil-I
mumaileyh yedinden itira ve kabz eylediim bir darl-muhtar fetvas semeninden dahi yigirmi aded yzlk
mecidiye altuna --- iki yzlk mecidiye altun deynimi ibu tarih-i hccet-i eriyye sese temamna dein eda ile
fekk-i reh idemez isem menzil-i mezkuru semeni misliyle aherebeye ve kabz- semene ve makbuzunda mesbz-
zikr iki yz yigirmi aded yzlk mecidiyemi mvekkile-yi merkumeye eda ve fazla kalur ise fazlasn bana teslime
klliyen akd- rehinde meruta vekalet-i devriye-yi sahiha-i er ile tarafmdan muma ileyh Osman Efendiyi
vekil ve naib-i menab nasb- tayin eylediimde ol dahi vekalet-i mezbureyi kabul ve hdmet-i lazmesini
kemayanbayi edaye taahhd ve iltizam eyledikde gbbet-tasdik-erI ma-vaka bit-taleb ketb olundu. S, n.9, p.
2, 1273 (1856).
185

to the concept of icare-i tavile, another concept that indicates long term property relations in the
court registers is mddet-i vafire. The lands which were possessed by mddet-i vafire were
rented at least for 30-40 years.
730
A case dating back to 1864 indicates such a long term rental by
two Armenian men whose ownership of their properties was witnessed by three Muslims in the
court.
731
This typical sicil example also indicates the long term property relations between non-
Muslims, who constructed this long term property relations by benefiting from principles of rf-i
belde gedii and mddet-i vafire of Islamic law.
Some sicil examples also indicate the relationship between the state and the communities.
An example dated back to 1859 and about a complicated conflict over houses which changed
hands among seven Greek women from zmir for twenty five years. These houses were built on
the land of a pious foundation (Sultan Mustafa Han Vakf). Vakfs were institutions which were
built by members of the imperial house or leading community members, and they were
supervised by kad and run by a group of the trustee of pious foundation. In the document it was
mentioned that the land of the pious foundation was rented to a Greek women in 1834. She sold
it to another Greek woman, and the land continued to change hands till 1859.
732
There were 25

730
BOA, Nme-i Hmyn Defteri, 4/1 and BOA. Hatt- Hmyn , nr.7616; emseddin Sami, "vfr", Kamus-i
Trki (Istanbul: Ikdam Matbaas, 1317 AH), p. 1494.
731
Medine-i zmirde Ermeni Mahallesi mtemekkinlerinden olub bundan akdem halik olan Hac stefan veled-i
zar nam zimminin sulbi kebir oullar i bu hamilr-rakim Mgdrgc ve Evanis nam zimmilerden istihbar- eri
sudurundan sonra li-eclil ihbar meclis-i ere hazran olan el-hacc Ali Efendi ibn-i brahim ve Aydnl Ahmet Aa
ibn-i Mehmed nam kimesneler istintak olunduklarnda fil-hakka medine-i mezbure haricinde Kemer kurbunda kain
Kara Sleyman Paa Kulesi yaknnda dimekle mehur baenin canibinden Keresteci ba Hac Hasan Aann
yirmibir zira yirmi parmak nihayet-i kesinde Hurid aa baesi dimekle arif mimar Hristo yedinde olan
mterek --- nsfndan Makbereci zade el-hac Ali Efendinin el Mehmed Said Efendinin kk hizasna
gelincesekiz parmak mahall mstakil vruduna ve derun- blgede kain mersum muma ileyhin hanam kulesi
civarnda kain dolapkuyusu ve yulaklar dut ve mahalli mezkurda bulunan ecarlar on sehim itibaryla mstehberan-
mersumann bil-mnasafa mddet-i vafireden ber taht- tasarruflarnda olub kimsenin medhali olmad bizim
her vechile malumumuzdur. Bizler bu hususa bu vech zere ahitleriz ve ledel-muhabere ehadet dahi ideriz deyy
her biri ala tarik-i istihat ihbar etmeleriyle vakil-hal ketb ve imla olundu. Hfzen lil-makal. Fi 25 evval 1271
(11 July 1854). S, n. 6, p.88.
732
...Medine-i zmirde Kasab Hzr mahallesinde..... Sultan Mustafa Han hazretlerinin evkaf- erifeleri
musakkafatndan mahalle-yi mezburede Kasuliye(?) emesi kurbunda kain krmz ride boya.... saire-yi
malumeyi muhtevi bir bab- menzilin arsas mukaddema ba-temessk vakf- marun ileyhe mvekkile-yi
mersume Marika nasraniyyenin bil-icareteyn taht- tasarrufunda iken mersume Marika nasraniyye ibu yedime olub
muayyene olunan ikiyz elli senesi evvall-mkerremi gurresi tarihiyle mverrah hamis- temessk mezkur
mucebinde mutasarrfa olduu arsa-y mezkureyi onbebin guru bedeli medfu ve makbuza mvekkilem mersum
Kostandinann anas ve mvekkile-yi mersumenin veyi kz gaibe-yi anil meclis u an mahkemede bulunmayan
186

years of conflict among the parties about the possession right on the land of the vakf. The
significant point in this document is that it indicates long lasting relationship between a Muslim
vakf and Greek subjects in zmir, because the rentals of the vakfs had been for a long period of
time, not for a couple of years.
733
The vakf land, which was possessed by the state, could be rent
out to individuals on the condition that it would not harm the public benefit (maslahat-
amme).
734
In this document it is seen that the state rented out its vakf land to the non-Muslims
by considering public benefit regardless of their religion. The other example also related to the
principle of public benefit of the Islamic law is about an application made by the Greeks to the
center to bring water to the Buca district in zmir. We know that Buca was mostly populated by
non-Muslims, and especially Greeks and Levantines.
735
A source of water had been found in the
town. The non-Muslims of Buca wanted to bring this water to the town. But, the place of this
water source was the private property of some Muslims. In 1863 these non-Muslims applied to
the state to bring the water to the town. The state gave its permission on condition that they
themselves would meet the expenses of this water transfer. And, since the place of this water
source did not belong to the state treasury, the non-Muslims had to buy it from the Muslims. The
state advised and encouraged these Muslims to sell their property to the non-Muslims, and if they
did so, they would be exempt from some certain taxes for which they were liable.
736
The state
did not prevent the non-Muslims from using this water although the ownership of the source of
this water belonged to the Muslims. It acted in this way by depending on two points: first, it was

Elize bin Cuvana veled-i atam nam nasraniyyeye ba-izni mtevelli ferag mukayyed-i kati ile ferag ve teviz
eylediinde ol dahi ber-vech-i muharrer teferru ve tefebbis ve kabul ve vakf- marunileyin mtevellisi dahi icare-
yi sabkasyle arsa-y mezkureyi mersume Elize nasraniyeye bit-tevlite icar ve teslim ve teberruan zerine ebniye
inasna izin virmekle... . S, n. 4, p. 28, 17 evval 1275, (23 April 1858).
733
Ahmet Akgndz, slam Hukuku ve Osmanl Tatbikatnda Vakf Messesesi, (Ankara: TTK, 1988) 354-356.
734
Ibid., p. 448; Halil Cin and Ahmed Akgndz, Trk-slam Hukuk Tarihi, vol. 1, pp. 156-8. Also see:
Dale F. Eickelman and Armando Salvatore, Public Islam and the common Good, Etnogrfica, 10/1 (2006) p. 97-
105,. Murat en, Osmanl Hukukunun Yaps, Yeni Trkiye Dergisi, 31 (2000), pp. 686-98.
735
Nikou Karara, , , - , [Buca, The joyful place
of zmir, its history-its life], (: , 1962); nar Atay, Tarih inde zmir, [zmir
in History], (zmir: Tifset Basm ve Yaym, 1978) 57.
736
BOA, A.MKT, 93/39, 1263 (1846).
187

the maslahat- amme or menfaat- amme principle of Islamic law. According to this principle, if
something benefited the whole society, the state was responsible to support it without
differentiating its subjects as Muslim or non-Muslim. This old pre-Tanzimat practice was still
applied during the Tanzimat. This suggests that the old legal practice of the Ottoman Empire was
not totally abolished with the promulgation of the Tanzimat. The state continued to keep its
traditional mechanisms to maintain relations among the communities. Besides, such an attitude
was also in accordance with the equality principle of the Tanzimat, i.e., that the state decided in
favour of both Muslims and Christians. These typical examples provide evidence for the well-
functioning and long-lasting property and land relations between zmir Greeks and Muslims,
which trace back to the earlier centuries. Another court register also indicates how the state did
deal with conflict between two non-Muslim subjects: A register dating back to 1852 explains the
conflict between two non-Muslim women, Kiryakola and the wife of Kuzucu Nikola, for
achieving the possession right of an abandoned piece of land of a sipahi. Sipahi had this land in
the Buca district and disappeared for 15 years. The two non-Muslim women claimed to posses
this land. Kiryakola claimed in her petition to the center that she cultivated this land for the last
15 years. She demonstrated this in sharia court with three non-Muslim witnesses. She asked the
court to warn other woman and prohibit her interference in this land. As a result of her
interrogation to the court, the other woman accepted that Kiryakola cultivated this land for the
last 15 years. The court decided in favour of Kiryakola:
737
The abandoned land of sipahi was

737
bu tarihl miladda yigirmi iki sene mukaddem medine-i zmire muzafe Buca karyesinde ... ahs muarefe
Kiryakola nasraniye meclis-i erimizde zikri ati menzile vaz- yed mtefakkr olan Marinos Cali veled-i Dimitri
nam nasraniyenin zevci ve tarafndan zikr-i ati hususunda vekil olduu mersumeyi bilr Sotiri veled Atna veled-i
Dimitri nam zimmiler ehadetleriyle mahzarihum hacedde ber-nehc-i eri sabit ve sbut vekaletine hkm-i eri
lahk olan Kuzucu Nikolaki veled-i adrc ile taraflarnda karye-yi mezkurede bir taraf...mersumenin salnda
ilel-helal yedinde mlk olub bade helakihi bana mevrus olmuken mvekkil-i mersume Martinoyid (Martinos?)
menzil-i mezkure ve --- mersumenin ba-temessk sipahi taht- tasarrufunda olub tarih-i mezburda kanun- mnife
zere hakk- tapusu bana aid olan karye-yi mezkurda tmar dahilinde vak bir taraf --- Yorgi ve bir taraf ---
tarlalar ve bir taraf tarik-i amm ile mahdud iki kta tarlalar dahi fuzuli ve bi-gayr- hakk ol tarihden ber benim
muvacehemde zabt ve tasarruf idb ben dahi husus- mezkurda dava mmkn iken badel-blu on be sene
mddet bila zr-i eri skut ve terk-i davas etmiidim el-halet-i hazihi menzil-i mezkur ile salifzzikr beyan
tarlalardan keffi yedine mvekkile-yi mersumeye izafetle vekil-i zevce-i mersum Nikolakiye tenbih olunmak
188

given to the possession of Kiryakola. She obtained the right of possession as result of the long
term use of the land, which is called zilyet in Islamic law. According to zilyet principle, one
could possess an abandoned land or property if he/she used it for a certain period of time.
738
As
this document shows, Ottoman subjects had the right to benefit from zilyet principle regardless of
religion. A correspondence between dahiliye mstearl (internal undersecretaryship) and
zmir Kaymakaml (the office of provincial district) in 1845 also demonstrates long-lasting
property relations among the Ottoman Greeks and Muslims. Two Muslims, Hac Mahmud and
Hac Abdullah, and a Greek Ottoman, Kostantin, had jointly owned a piece of land. Another
Greek man, Sacador, interfered in their land without any reason. They applied to the court in
1851 in order to prevent this unnecessary interference of Sacador.
739
This jointly owned land of
two Muslims and an Ottoman Greek and their collaboration with another Ottoman Greek not
only indicate the long lasting property and economic relations between Greeks and Turks, but
also social interaction between them. An Ottoman Greek could sue another Ottoman Greek
subject for cooperating with his Turkish fellow. Another example dating back to 1847 indicate
economic relations among Muslims and non-Muslims of zmir: Two Muslim residents of zmir
petitioned the state in order to take permission to build a mill in cooperation with a European and
a Greek merchant. After the provincial council approved the construction of the mill, the center
also gave the permission to jointly build this mill.
740


muradmdr deyy dava itdikde arazi-yi mezkurda hakknda olan davas tmar- mezkur sipahinin huzuruna muhtac
ancak menzil-i mezkur hakknda vekil-i mersum Nikolaki istintiak olundukda menzil-i mezkur ba-mlkname-i
hmayun mvekkile-i merumenin vaz- yedinde krar lakin muddeiye-yi mersumenin mlk olduunu ispat
itmekle mddeiye-yi mersumenin davas zere husus- mezkurede davas mmkn iken badel-blu on be sene
bila zr-i eri skut ve terk-i dava eri skut ve terk-i dava eylediin hakknda ve ?mutelife olub ve Nikoladan
on be sene bila zr-i eri terk olunan davann bila-emr-i ali istimandan hkema-y kiram mteddiler olmala
mdde-i mersumenin davasna iltifat olunduk --- ilam olundu --- emr-i ferman hazret-i menlehl-emrindir fi ------
1851, S, n.2, p.3.
738
Mecelle-i Ahkam-i Adliye, ed. Ali Himmet Berki (Istanbul: Hikmet Yaynevi, 1982), p. 373. Article no. 1679.
Also see Yusuf Cemalleddin, Zilyedliin keyfiyet-i lzm ve isbat, Mecelle-i Adliye, 3 (1338 AH), pp. 133-8.
739
BOA, A.MKT., 40/75, 1262.5.1, Dahiliye Mstearlndan zmir Kaymakamlna ukka.
740
Mal-i arzuhal Medine-i zmirde Punta nam mahalde mutasarrf olduu arsa-y haliyesi zerine beher sene
maliye hazine-i celilesine be bin guru virmek zere mceddeden bir bab vapur deirman bina ve ina itmek in
ruhsat havi emr-i ali itas niyaz olub Midill ceziresi Ahalisinden Mehmed Necib ve Rza Beyler ile Avrupa tccar
behiyyesi mimar Istrati ve Saki taraflarndan vaki olan istidaya mebni meclis-i zraat ve meclis-i vala-y ahkam-
189

In conclusion, the attempts of the state to entrench central authority during the age of
reforms had been felt in zmir, too. The Greeks of zmir had come under more control of the
state during the Tanzimat period. However, the state also treated the Greeks of zmir in
accordance with the Tanzimat principles of equality and also in some cases favoured them by
referring to the pre-Tanzimat regulations. In other words, it was a blend of both pre-Tanzimat
and Tanzimat regulations in order to provide cohesion in society. Moreover, centralizing
Ottoman reforms did not disturb the century old social order in the city, due to its local character.
There are a number of factors which make up the local character of zmir: the inter-communal
interaction at social-cultural and imperial level during funerals, celebrations of religious days, the
conciliatory attitude of the local authorities towards non-Muslims, the peoples sense of
belonging to the city, the special location of zmir as an opening commercial spot of the Empire
to the West, and finally the centuries old presence of the significant commercial Levantine
community are the factors which made up the local character of zmir. The interconnected
spatial organization and long lasting property relations demonstrate the existence of a unified
economic space within the city. The following sections will discuss how the people of zmir did
maintain their relations among themselves in this unified economic space.


Social interaction among common people:
The description of a celebration by a foreign visitor in Ske district of zmir (40 km
northeast of zmir) in 1853 might give an idea about the general social situation and communal

adliye karar ve eref snuh buyrulan emr-i hmayun evket makrun- tacdari mucebince eriat-i lazime derciyle
vapur deirmeni inasna ruhsat havi star buyrulan emr-i ali kayd misl olunmak zere derkar olunmu olmala bu
suretle emsali vechile tedkikat lazmesi icra buyrulmak zere bunun dahi meclis-i valaya havalesi lazm glecei
malum olub bu babda emr ferman devletl sultanmndr. Bab- Ali Evrak Odas, Sadaret Evrak (A.DVN),
29/61, 1263 (1846).
190

relations in western Anatolian towns during the age of the Tanzimat. His letter was published in
the Greek newspaper Amaltheia:

Dear editor of Amaltheia, I came to Ske as a foreigner for a couple of days and witnessed to an event that
I wanted to tell you about it. I witnessed that the ruler of the town was treating all his people equally
regardless of religion. This means that Mr. Mehmet Elezolu (the ruler of Ske) inherited these attitudes
from his father. His attitudes to treat people in equal terms and with justice and his characteristics as a
governor came from his father. I realized even that he was perceived by some people more than a governor,
like a father figure. Mehmet Elezolu had left for stanbul 26 months ago, and the people of the town were
expecting his return with great impatience. On 22 May 1853 people from all classes, Christians, Muslims,
leading members of the communities, were waiting to welcome him with joy. 27 May became for us like a
festival day. Ottomans, Greeks, Armenians and other people from the surrounding regions of Ske closed
their workshops and gathered in Ske to welcome Mr. Elezolu. All people shouted that long live our
sultan Abdlmecid, you did not deprive us from our beloved governor, long live our governor and father.
They accompanied him till the building of his office and kissed his right hand and left.
741


On the one hand, the bewilderment of this foreigner about the local rulers equal treatment of all
people of the town regardless of religion, and the love and respect of people, including the non-
Muslims, towards him indicate typical Eurocentric prejudgment about the situation of the non-
Muslims in the Ottoman lands. On the other hand, his description of the celebration of the return
of the governor points to social order and harmony in this Aegean town, as was in zmir in this
period.
Long lasting property relations demonstrated the existence of certain amount of
interaction between Greeks and Muslims; however, some other activities prove further their
interaction at societal level. For example, they cooperated on illegal businesses in daily life: they
stole together, or borrowed from one other and or came into conflict about payments. Moreover,

741
Amaltheia, 5 June 1853.
191

they also took part in each others festivities and funerals. In the section below, it will be
discussed with some typical examples that how this interaction worked in zmir.
A famous Persian thief, called Acem in the newspaper, and Drakudis from
Mytilene stole all the silvers and gold of the Yenicehori church and also robbed three Christian
houses in 1857. Acem was caught and Drakudis escaped. Since some of the stolen goods were
found in the bag of Acem, he was imprisoned, but denied his guilt. He broke his chains, dug a
hole in the wall of the prison and escaped. Local officials could not find him. While going to
Aksarion (Aksaray), Priest K. Hrisantos bumped into Acem. He handed him over to the local
authorities by admonishing them to keep him in the prison until he returned from Aksarion.
However, he again escaped. The newspaper stressed the weakness of the local authorities in
surrounding regions of zmir since they were not able to control the criminal.
742
The newspaper
wrote about another robbery case in 1865: seven Muslim and one Orthodox Christian Albanian
organized a big robbery in the Kasaba district. They planned to rob two places: a house of an
Armenian and the cash register of the Kasaba railroad station. The head of the police
organization Yasin Aa unveiled this secret plan before they put the robbery into operation. The
Orthodox Christian Albanian, who was working at the Kasaba railroad station, had a criminal
record in previous years. Therefore, he was sent back to his hometown, Vitoli, to be judged
there. The newspaper praised the police organization of the city since it unveiled this robbery
plan before it became harmful.
743
On 18 June 1865 an Ottoman Greek merchant, Anastasias
rgpl, gave a letter to Amaltheia in which he denounced the agreement he signed with one
Turk and two Greeks. He wrote that he signed an official paper in which he had accepted to give
68,600 okka bolls of cotton to Halil Mokaolu, Botos Avratolu and Georgios Thedosiu from
Sarayky. In his words, but, these men did not fulfill their promises to me, in addition, they

742
Amaltheia, 21 June 1857, n.957, p. 4.
743
Amaltheia, 28 August 1865, n.1381, p. 3.
192

owe me not only the price of the bolls of cotton, but also another big amount of money.
Therefore, I denounce this official agreement as if we did not make it at all, until they pay me
their BURDA loans / debts.
744
Addressing the local authorities in zmir, Andonios N. Foskolos
wrote an open letter to the Ottoman official authorities in the Greek newspaper Smyrni in 1873
and explained the conflict about property rights to his land: Foskolos owned land in Buca and his
ownership of this land was approved by the officials and architects of the municipality:
Williamson, Vitalis, Voskudakis, and Kokinos. They informed Sreyya Pasha (governor of
zmir) that the property right of this land belonged to Foskolos. Later a conflict arose about his
ownership of this land and he did not receive his official paper proving his ownership. He
applied to the local courts and provincial council of zmir, which could not decide about the
status of his land. The problem originated from the claim of Williamson, architect of the
municipality. He argued that this land did not belong to Foskolos, and the reason why it was seen
in the official documents as his property was that he changed the borders in the plan. Foskolos
stated that the architect Williamson, the mayor and some peasants lied and the original borders of
his land were available in the plans. The other architect, Markozof, realized that this was a
conspiracy against Foskolos so he wrote a letter to the local officials. He mentioned that since
there were temessk (bor senedi) records concerning these lands, it was obvious that the
peasants siding with the mayor and other architects had lied. Foskolos noted that at the end of
his letter the main wish of our magnificent sultan is to serve the people. Therefore, I request
that Sreyya Pasha considers my case in compliance with justice and give my rights back, and to
judge these people according to the law.
745
Such an attempt of a Greeks appeal to the governor
of zmir was a sign of trust for the implementation of law and rule of justice and authority of
local power in the early 1870s.

744
Amaltheia, 17 June 1865, n. 1374, p.4
745
Smyrni, 8 May 1873, n. 220, p. 3.
193

Apart from such examples of financial conflicts and some co-criminality of Muslims and
non-Muslims together, we also see that different community members attended the funerals of
the leading people in the city. For example, the Baltazzis family, one the best known Levantine
families of zmir, meant that the funerals of its members were conducted with the participation of
many people of zmir regardless of religion. When Georgios Baltazzis died in 1852, Amaltheia
announced his funeral and mentioned the crowd at which Ottoman soldiers, the religious men of
all the churches, consuls and merchants were present.
746
Similarly, when Epaminondas Baltazzis
died in 1894, an ostentatious funeral was organized for him on Frank Street; Ottoman soldiers
were on the front yard of the funeral parade with candles, kavases in sparkled dresses were
behind them, and a big crowd was walking after them.
747
The engagement ceremony of a Greek
couple was announced in the newspaper Smyrni. Their rings were put on by an affluent young
Ottoman instead of a priest. Mentioning this, the newspaper congratulated the couple. This was
also the indication of the interaction between Greek and Muslim inhabitants of zmir.
748

Moreover, in some villages of zmir where Greeks and Muslims resided together, when
education and religious facilities of the Greeks were not met by their metropolitan, Muslim local
rulers accepted them into these facilities. For example, in ili (ili) village of zmir, 20 km.
north of zmir, the Metropolitan of Ephesus did not appoint teacher and priest for the Greeks.
The Greek children received their primary education from an Ottoman hoca, and it was not
certain even if they were baptized or not, or how funerals were conducted without an Orthodox
priest. Most probably such ceremonies were conducted by an Ottoman imam.
749
All these
examples, including the ones about the long-lasting property relations, demonstrate that the

746
Amaltheia, 21 March 1852.
747
Quoted from Gaston Deschapms, sur les Routes dAsie, (Armand Colin et Cie., Libraries de la Socit des Gens
da Latters, 5 Rue de Mzieres, Paris, 1894) in Rauf Beyru, 19. Yzylda zmir'de Yaam [The Life in zmir in the
19
th
Century]. (stanbul: Gzel Sanatlar Eitim Vakf, 2000) 351, FN. 1152.
748
Smyrni, 24 April 1873, n. 225, p. 1.
749
Smyrni, 22 January 1870, p.3. The newspaper Smyrni criticized this miserable situation of the Greeks in a place
which was only half an hour away from zmir.
194

Greeks and Turks not only shared urban space together, but also interacted at social level as
natural organic elements of city.


Tolerance and Ottoman attempts to stimulate political loyalty:
We learn from the newspapers of the period that the coronation of the Ottoman sultans,
their visits to the city, the birth of the sons of the sultans and sometimes their birthdays were
celebrated in zmir. Such imperial celebrations were organized by the local authority and
announced in the newspapers. For example, the birth of a son of Sultan Mahmud II was
celebrated for seven days and nights in zmir in 1836. For this celebration the bazaars and shops,
Turkish quarters and public buildings were lit up for seven nights. The illumination of the
courthouse was especially remarkable. Cannon-shots were heard five times in a day, as usual in
all imperial celebrations.
750
At the end of the same year, the birthday of Sultan Mahmud II was
celebrated as well.
751
Sultan Abdlmecits visit to zmir in 1844 was celebrated not only by the
usual greeting protocols and receptions, but was also celebrated with joy by European tradesmen.
Horse races were also organized in the honor of the Sultan.
752
The participation of foreigners in
the ceremonies of Sultan Abdlmecits visit might be a sign of the affects of the Tanzimat in
1844. After the announcement of Tanzimat regulations, not only non-Muslim Ottomans, but also
Europeans in zmir felt more comfortable. Moreover, we also understand that social interaction
existed not only among people of different ethno-religious communities, but also between local
authorities and the Greek and European communities. Local authority in zmir took the
advantage of every opportunity to organize a municipal celebration, which was open to the

750
Journal de Smyrne, 23 January 1836, quoted in Beyru, 2000, p. 328, FN. 1083.
751
Journal de Smyrne, 24 December 1836, quoted in ibid., FN. 1084.
752
Beyru, 2000, p. 357.
195

public. On 22 September 1857 the governor of zmir, Mustafa Pasha, organized a ceremony for
the opening of the zmir-Aydn railway.

Ottoman and British flags flew over a large pavilion erected for occasion while several speeches hailed the
support of the Sultan and the efforts of chief engineer George Meredith and of Robert Wilkin, who initially
conceived the project. The mufti of zmir offered a public prayer for the success of the railway and for the
welfare of the Sultan, also invoking the blessings of the Almighty on the officers of the railway company.
The large crowd in attendance acclaimed the governor, who solved some earth in a mahogany wheelbarrow
and emptied it a few steps further on. Several Ottoman officers and some of the consuls repeated the act at
the sound of the imperial march, followed by the firing of twenty-one salvos and the sacrifice of three rams
in accordance with Islamic practices.
753


As this example shows, local officials did not ignore Muslim practices when conducting imperial
celebrations in the presence of representatives and members of all ethno-religious communities
of the city. Such ceremonies were used by the local officials as a negotiation tool between the
traditions of the Ottoman Empire and the new environment of the Tanzimat period. In addition,
these were attempts to stimulate loyalty to the Ottoman state. Local authorities in zmir
welcomed Ottoman non-Muslims and Levantines to organizing committees for the celebrations.
For example, in 1865 the celebration ceremony of Sultan Abdlazizs coronation was organized
by Raid Pasha, who was loved very much by all the people of the city regardless of religion. He
invited the leaders of every community, leading community members, consuls and their
translators to a decorated and illuminated Ottoman ship called Sadiye to discuss the organization
of the celebration. Raid Pasha asked D. Amiran, H. Moraitinin, P. M. Kladon, Baron Varonon
Testan, Dr. Rafineski and Ananian Alverti to organize dancing activity and protocol matters of

753
Sibel Zandi Sayek, Public Space and Urban Citizens, Ottoman zmir in the Remaking, 1840-1890, unpublished
dissertation, (Berkeley: University of California, 2001) 42, rephrased from the newspaper Impartial, 25 September
1857.
196

the ceremony, and wanted Madam I.o. Dorsarment especially to handle the ladies protocols.
People who took part in this entertainment appreciated Raid Pasha's kind hospitality.
754

Such imperially inspired celebrations can be seen as the symbols to exhibit state power,
attempts to integrate the non-Muslims into the changing political climate of the Tanzimat and
provide the political allegiance of the non-Muslims, especially in the face of the existence of an
independent Greek state. Moreover, local rulers of zmir did not hesitate to join the
entertainments, celebrations and ceremonies of the non-Muslims of zmir. We learn of such
occasions from the newspapers of the period: The Msellim mer Ltfi Efendi had invited
Levantines of zmir to his sons wedding ceremony, which was noted in the newspaper Courrier
de Smyrne.
755
Anastasios, the patriarch of Alexandria, visited Seydiky in zmir. An
entertainment with dinner and dance was organized before he left for Egypt. Raid Pasha
attended this night with the accountant Eyp Efendi and the customs director evket Bey and
with some other local officials.
756
Furthermore, in the following years local rulers of zmir
participated in the zmir Greeks celebration of the events related to the Greek Kingdom. They
celebrated Georgios Is name day with freedom and joy. Consulate director of Greece in zmir,
Russian consul, all the Greek officials, and the Greek citizens participated in the celebration. In
this ceremony the name of the Greek King was read at the same with Alexander the Great and
Sultan Abdlaziz.
757
In the front yard of the crowd, regular soldiers were present. In the
courtyard of Saint George church, the voices of crowd and gun shots were heard. After the
ceremony in the church, the director of the Greek consulate accepted congratulations from other
consuls. During the celebration in church Greeks tangled around icon while playing music. The

754
Amaltheia, 11 June 1865, p. 1373, p.3.
755
Courrier de Smyrne 21.11.1830, quoted in Orhan Kololu, lk zmirli Gazeteciden zmir Haberleri, [News
from the First Smyrnean Journalist of Smyrna], in Son Yzylda zmir ve Bat Anadolu [zmir and western Anatolia
in the last century], ed. Tuncer Baykara, (zmir: Akademi Kitabevi, 1993) 141.
756
Amaltheia, 30 July 1865, p. 1380, p. 4.
757
Amaltheia, 28 April 1867, p. 3; Also noted in Gerasimos Augustinos, Kk Asya Rumlar [The Greeks of Asia
Minor, Confession, Community, and Ethnicity in the Nineteenth Century] (Ankara: Ayra Yaynevi, 1997) 329, FN.
23.
197

name of the Greek King was also celebrated in Aydn in good order in the Metropolitan
church.
758
In the following years, the celebrations of the name day of the Greek kings also
continued. For example, it was celebrated in 1873, and Greek consul general and other consul to
zmir visited the Ottoman ship Erturul to express their thanks to the captain of the ship for the
respect they showed during the name day of the Greek King.
759
In the same year, it was also
celebrated in Bornova district of zmir. After the morning celebration in the church, the event
continued in the center in a coffeehouse in which live zmir music was performed.
760
Such
celebrations were mostly organized by Greeks of Greek Kingdom in the city. The interaction
between the Ottoman Greeks and Greeks of Greece in the city led to the unrest of the local
authorities and foreign, especially British, diplomats because of the possibility of an uprising of
the native Ottoman zmir Greeks. Some of the British officials perceived such celebrations for
the Greek Kingdom as a sign of national instigation.
761
British consul reported some activities of
the Greeks of Greece in zmir, describing them as provocative activities. For example, they
decided to celebrate the independence day of Greece by raising Greek flag to the Agia Fotini
church of zmir in 1867. Although the Greek consul of zmir tried to prevent this, an official of
the consulate organized it. The same British consul also reported the foundation of Greek
Literature Association in zmir in 1863. He stated that the Helens and Ionians founded this
literature society. According to the British consul, this group more than dealing with culture was
trying to cause trouble.
762
The local authorities of zmir attempted to curb the influence of the
Greeks of Greece on the Ottoman Greeks by encouraging mutual interaction through
participation in municipal celebrations and incorporating them into the imperial celebrations of
the Ottoman Empire.

758
Amaltheia , 28 April 1867, p. 3.
759
Smyrni, 24 April 1873, n. 225, p.3.
760
Smyrni, 24 April 1873, n. 225, p.3.
761
Augustinos, 1997, p. 329.
762
FO 78/176, 14 March 1863 noted in Gerasimos, 1997, p. 329, FN. 23.
198

Participation of the local authorities of zmir in the social activities and events of Greek
community can be also evaluated as the attempts to impose Ottomanism, and to provide unity
and cohesion in the multi ethno-religious society of zmir in the face of the growing influence of
the Greek state. The local authority in zmir worked to create a unified political allegiance out of
the various communities of the city in accordance with the Tanzimat policy. Apart from the local
authorities contact with the non-Muslims of the city, Ottoman sultans also did not hesitate to
stay and visit non-Muslim households during their trips to zmir. For instance Sultan Abdlaziz
visited zmir in 23 April 1865 and stayed in the Bornova district in the villa of M. Whithall, who
was one of the oldest English merchants of zmir. The Sultan was greeted by Turkish and
Christian crowds, including imams and bishops, in the courtyard of the villa. He also visited the
villa of Armenian Yusuf Efendi in Bornova, and in Buca, of M. Baltazzi, who owned two of the
most remarkable villas with sizeable gardens in zmir.
763
During his stay Abdlaziz made
considerable donations to all communities of zmir.
764

In another example dating back to 1865, the Greeks of eme wrote an open thanking
letter to the Ottoman sultan and local ruler of their town in Amaltheia. With this letter they not
only mentioned their gratitude to the Ottoman Sultan for uniting eme, Alaat and Karaburun
under a single ruler, but also emphasized their concerns about unfavorable physical conditions of
their town. They mentioned that their new ruler Seyid Bey began to apply the new regulations of
the Empire (this must refer to the Provincial Law of 1864) so that the roads were cleaned and the
physical conditions of their town were organized in general terms. Seyid Bey also negotiated
with the Alaat Greeks who argued and were divided among themselves because of the
discussions about political divisions and conflicts in the Greek Kingdom. The Greeks of eme
in their letter in Amaltheia expressed their sincere thanks to Seyyid Bey who could resolve this

763
Beyru, 2000, pp. 357-359, FN. 1187.
764
He donated 345.000 kuru to the Muslims, 120.000 kuru to the Catholics, 80.000 kuru to the Greeks, 65.000
kuru to the Armenians, 40.000 kuru to the Jews, and 15.000 kuru to the Protestants. Ibid.
199

conflict among Alaat Greeks with his enthusiastic and favorable attitudes.
765
As this example
indicates, Greeks of Alaat were highly concerned with the political issues and events in the
Greek Kingdom, but this did not trigger the reaction of the local authorities neither in zmir nor
in the distant districts of the city. Even on the eve of the foundation of the new Greek Kingdom
in 1831, before the Tanzimat era, the Greek community of Bornova celebrated their religious day
with big festivities and crowd without having any problem with the local officials.
766

Such examples for celebrations of the imperial events related to the Greek Kingdom
show that the Greeks of zmir developed a new political loyalty to the Greek Kingdom.
However, this coexisted with the loyalty to the Ottoman state. Keeping their social contact with
the non-Muslims, Ottoman local authorities in zmir attempted to keep the Ottoman Greeks
social and political ties with the Ottoman state. However, the presence of another political
loyalty (to the Greek state) contributed to the Greek exodus in the 1910s when the CUP was in
charge, and ruled the Ottoman domains by favoring the national economy policies. However,
their return after the Balkan wars indicates their weak or superficial ties with the Greek
Kingdom, as they appear to have wanted to return to their hometown within Ottoman territories.
In addition to the participation of the local authorities in the celebrations of zmir Greeks,
participation of the local authorities and community members in other publicly held religious
celebrations in the city was also seen in zmir: The public celebration of the religious day of the
Catholics in May 1842, the Corpus Christi Parade, was a sign of new Tanzimat spirit of
coexistence and tolerance which cut across the ethno-religious communal lines publicly in zmir.
The head of the Catholic community of zmir, Bishop Moussabini led the parade and the leaders
and members of the other communities and local authorities also participated in the event.
Newspaper Lecho de lOrient announced this public religious celebration by emphasizing the

765
Amaltheia, 2 July 1865, n. 1376, p.4.
766
Beyru, p. 149, FN. 406.
200

presence of many people from different communities: members of all Catholic churches,
students of the Propaganda College (which was run by the French Catholic Lazarist priests), two
hundred girls from the Sisters of Charity, the dragomans of Catholic consuls, French and other
consuls; and also Ottoman soldiers took part in the parade. The Greek shops along Frank Street
were decorated with flowers and hangings. The main route of the Corpus Christi Parade was
Frank Street in which the social and cultural interaction of all communities became most explicit
in the urban area of zmir. The governor of zmir himself, Salih Pasha, several times checked the
parade route to show peaceful social order.
767
Alexis de Valon also noted this religious
celebration mentioning the supportive presence of the Turkish guards in the parade and
enthusiastic Catholic influence over the Muslim population in zmir, and the ornamentation of
windows of the non-Catholic houses along Frank Street. Quoting the letter of the French consul
to the minister of the French Foreign Relations, Alexis de Valon also noted that the presence of
the Turkish guards was not because of the uneasiness of the local authorities about rowdiness of
the non-Muslims, but to take place in this public event in peaceful terms as the representative of
the Turks of the city.
768
Such public celebrations were a significant tool for both the Ottoman
state and the communities to renew their relations with each other and the sign of religious
freedom and civility, and indication of increased tolerance in zmir in accordance with the
intentions of Tanzimat.
769
This type of celebration of the Corpus Christi Parade in 1842 became a
custom in zmir in the following years.
770
In the same year, in September, the opening

767
Beyru, 2000, p. 161, FN. 446 quoted from Lcho de lOrient, 27 May 1842; Sibel Zandi-Sayek, Orchestrating
Difference, Performing Identity: Urban Space and Public Rituals in Nineteenth Century zmir, in Hybrid Urbanism,
On the identity discourse and the built environment, ed. Nezar Al Sayyad, (Westport: Conn: Praeger, 2001) 42-43,
FN. 3, quoted from Lcho de lOrient, 53-54 , 27 May 1842;
768
Olaf Yaranga, 19. Yzyln ilk Yarsnda Fransz Gezginlerin Anlatmlarna zmir, [zmir in the first half of the
19
th
century, in the accounts of the French travelers], (zmir: zmir Byk ehir Belediyesi Yay, 2
nd
. ed, 2002) 45-
46, FN.111.
769
Zandi-Sayek, 2001, pp. 42,-44, 53.
770
Quoted from LEcho de lOrient, 8 June 1844 in Beyru, 2000, 161, FN. 447.
201

celebration of a church in Buca district was held by the participation of various community
members, too.
771



The Perception of the local authorities
Sense of belonging to the city:
The Greek newspapers of zmir of the time expressed openly their thanks and gratitude to
the local authorities for their positive efforts, and did not hesitate to criticize them for the matters
related to the physical conditions of their city or town. From the newspapers of the period we
learn about the cost of living in zmir in 1840s and 1850s and the local rulers attempts to solve
this problem. On February 1845, the newspaper Melisiyenis thanked the officials who attempted
to decrease the cost of food and began to control prices in the city. It wrote:

Our majestic leader [referring to the Izmir governor] is struggling to reduce the food prices. This was
something very important since butchers, bakers, especially fishmongers were acting disrespectfully and
selling to the public at very costly prices. His majesty gained admiration and love of people because of his
efforts to prevent this situation that people began to see him like a father more than a ruler.
772


When Reid Bey was appointed as the local governor of zmir in 1845, the newspaper
Melisiyenis thanked to the Sultan and his ministry for the appointment of such a ruler on behalf
of all people of the city, and to Reit Bey himself and showed its respects to him.
773
In 1852, the
newspaper Amaltheia also published a thanking article for Kamil Pasha and his staff, who
provided order and price control in zmir.
774


771
Quoted from LEcho de lOrient, 9 September 1842 in ibid., FN. 448.
772
Melisiyenis, 3 February 1845.
773
Melisiyenis, 3 February 1845.
774
Amaltheia, 7 March 1852.
202

Another example is about the comments of the newspapers about the local ruler and
authorities of zmir. For example, in November 1856 Amaltheia praised the local ruler of zmir
for his tender attitude towards the prisoners. He provided them food and blankets and worked to
improve the general conditions of prisons in the city. Therefore, we are grateful to him for his
efforts wrote the newspaper.
775
The local authority of zmir in the case of disasters, such as
epidemics and fires, treated its Muslim and non-Muslim subjects equally so much so that the
non-Muslim Ottomans expressed their thanks to the local authorities for their struggles for the
well-being of the city with open letters in the newspapers: the newspaper Amaltheia wrote about
the cholera epidemics and praised the efforts of Raid Bey, the governor of zmir on 2 July 1865:
He assembled consuls and doctors to take precautions to prevent further spreads of the epidemic.
They discussed the possibilities of helping poor families, cleaning of the roads and providing aid
for distant districts. Raid Pasha went to the Jewish quarter with French consul Ventivolio to
observe the situation in person and to organize the issues related to transfer the people to other
regions, cleanliness, taking care of the patients and burying of the deceased people. Raid Pasha
who forbade the transfer of the death bodies from the Jewish quarter to the center of the city
asked the capital to send enough amounts of tents especially for the Jewish families. The
newspaper praised the affluent families of the city and the peasants for their helps. It also
emphasized the necessary intervention of the police of zmir during such period of crisis. In the
garrison of the city, commander of the garrison and other military rulers and doctors (Halit Bey
and Dr. Mustafa Bey) distributed necessary medicines among the poorer patients. Raid Pasha
asked from the religious leaders and other leading members of the communities to stay in their
places with their people. Therefore, Amaltheia noted, our old metropolitan began to stay in the
metropolitan house. Raid Pasha also get interested in homeopathic cure suggestions of Dr.

775
Amaltheia, 8 November 1856, n. 925, p. 4.

203

Krikas, who publicized them in Amaltheia. He met with Dr. Krikas to thank for his efforts to
cure the disease and to order enough amount of the homeopathic medicines that the doctor
suggested. The newspaper praised Raid Pasha for his efforts in dealing with this disease
problem in the city.
776
Addressing the local authorities in Amaltheia, the Armenian community
also expressed its gratification by publishing a thanking letter. The Armenian community also
sent a letter to the Armenian patriarchate in the capital mentioning the humanitarian and fatherly
features of Raid Pasha of zmir.
777
In the same year, in August, Amaltheia reproachfully wrote
after other communities, finally, the Ottoman community also expressed its gratitude to Raid
Pasha with a thanking letter for his helps and cooperation during the difficult days of the
epidemics.
778
Most of the people in Bornova gave a public notice in which they expressed their
gratitude to Captain Hseyin Aa from the police organization since he provided cleanness and
security of people with great care during the cholera epidemics.
779
In 1845 the newspaper
Amaltheia wrote about a fire that broke out in a bakery around 2 a.m. The help arrived on time so
that only one bakery and two butchers shop burned out. The newspaper stated that with the
efforts of general governor Raid Pasha, the head of the police organization Yasin Aa and with
the early arrival of the soldiers and seamen the flame was put out on time. Amaltheia wrote that
We would like to thank to the new soldiers and polices because of such positive and favourable
attitudes they showed towards people. This new organization deserves to be praised.
780
After
this fire, within two months a big fire broke out and 36 shops were destroyed in Kestane Pazar.
Fire became very destructive because of the wind. During the flames Raid Pasha, Yasin Aa,
commander of the garrison, soldiers, captains, firemen and seamen of the imperial ships and
firemen of the insurance companies, and Greek, Armenian and Turkish firemen came to

776
Amaltheia, 2 July 1865, n. 1376, p. 3.
777
Amaltheia, 30 July 1865, p. 1380, p. 4.
778
Amaltheia, 28 August 1865, n. 1381, p. 3.
779
Amaltheia, 30 July 1865, n. 1380, p. 4.
780
Amaltheia, 16 May 1865, n. 1369, p. 3.
204

extinguish the fire. Amaltheia once more emphasized the precious efforts of the local authorities
and congratulated their efforts during such period of crises.
781

The struggle and cooperation of the different community leaders and members in the case
of fires are also the sign of the interwoven social relationships among the communities.
Moreover, the letters of the non-Muslim communities for the praise of the struggle of the local
authorities and their enthusiastic attitudes towards people during the disasters show the sense of
their belonging to the city and political allegiance to the local authority. When the Greek
newspapers of zmir mentioned the local governor of zmir, it used the word our governor or
our city. In the rhetoric of the articles in the newspapers it can be seen that they did not
differentiate themselves from the Muslims or put themselves in secondary position compared
with the Muslim Turkish community of the city as the real owners of the city. The Greeks,
Armenians and Jews of zmir perceived themselves as the natural elements of the city. The
presence of a Greek state and their interest in the political events in Greece did not preclude them
from having a sense of belonging to the city and the Muslim local rulers of the city. Amaltheia,
even, announced with great sorrow the leaving of Raid Pasha (for his earlier position in Syria)
and his staff, and the head of the police organization Yasin Aa on 15 July 1866. The newspaper
noted that Raid Pasha and his team struggled for justice during their rule of the city and
communities of zmir gave him a letter full of signatures in which expressed their sadness and
asked the reason of his leaving.
782
Their emphasis on justice of Raid Pashas rule suggests their
trust in the Tanzimat principles.
The efforts of the local rulers to struggle with disasters and their attempts to provide good
social order continued in zmir into the early 1870s. In 1871, a fire, which lasted for almost a
week, was put out with the help of all official units and a Habsburg ship in the city, hence, only

781
Amaltheia, 16 July 1865, n. 1378, p. 4.
782
Amaltheia, 15 July 1866, n. 1430, p. 3. The newspaper also informed people that the new ruler was Sreyya
Pasha and would come from the capital.
205

10-12 houses were burned. The newspaper Smyrni wrote, The commander of gendarme, Salih
Bey, brahim Aa and Nuri Efendi from the police organization; Greek priest Arhimandrid K.
Nikodimos, as usual, helped to extinguish the fire with great struggles from the beginning to the
end.
783
In the newspaper we also learn how the local authorities dealt with problems that
threatened the social order of the city. An Ottoman gendarme officer abusing his rank disturbed
social order in 1844 in one of the popular districts of the city and he was punished by his
superior officer. He disturbed people in a hotel by displaying markedly unrestrained behaviours.
He was not only dismissed from his position, but also lost his rank. The Greek newspaper Smyrni
evaluated such a strict attitude of the local authority towards him as necessary in terms of
preventing the local officers to misuse their ranks.
784
Similarly, the governor of zmir, Hamdi
Pasha, dismissed the deputy of the trade court (ticaret mahkemesi) from his duty in 1870, since
he was treating people unequally.
785
Sreyya Pasha, the governor of zmir in 1871, also
dismissed the kaymakam of Nazl district and imprisoned him, since he abused his task by
treating people unequally.
786
As these examples show, the governors of zmir in the early 1870s
continued to be concerned with the social order of the city which did not tolerate the unjust
attitudes of the other subordinate local authorities. The interest of the local authority in the Greek
community of zmir in the 1870s, too, indicated continuing attempts of the local officials for
integration and social cohesion: The governor of zmir, Sadk Pasha with his political deputy
Grigoris Arisarhi Bey visited Metropolitan house, and later visited Evengeliki school of Greeks
with the priest Filatatos Mireon and asked students questions about history, geography, French
and Turkish arithmetic. They also visited the library of the school and the hospital. The
newspaper stated that such actions of him honoured their community and motivated students and
people in the hospital, and wished the continuation of such positive attitudes of the local

783
Smyrni, 4 March 1871.
784
Symrni, 2 Feb 1871, p.4.
785
Smyrni, 25 August 1870, p. 3.
786
Symrni, 2 Feb 1871, p. 4.
206

governor. The interest of the governor of zmir in the Greek community of the city was
appreciated by a Greek newspaper of the city in 1871.
787



The Concerns for the urban development and social order of the city
Newspapers also expressed their interest in the urban development and social order of the
city. They imposed controlled urban development of their city, which also indicated their sense
of belonging to the city. For example, Amaltheia while mentioning the effective works of police
and zabta in 1857 expressed its concerns for the physical conditions of the streets:

The police and zabta force which was established by Raid Pasha is very beneficial and very good thing
for our city. However, we wish this organization to be extended to all regions of the city, not to remain only
in the urban center. These new officials are controlling everything in the city with great care and do
everything they can for the benefit of the people. They impose on people to take care of the front yards of
their houses and workshops, to keep them clean, to get rid of everything like tabelas which disturbed
traffic. They especially control the scales with great care to prevent injustices. They only gave legal fine to
those who do not obey the regulations, do not do something else. Our prices, especially for bread and meat,
are reasonable. Therefore, our people must be happy. But, unfortunately, the physical conditions of our
streets did not yet get better, only in few streets sidewalks were built and construction of sidewalks all over
the city was left to sometime later.
788


During the early years of the Tanzimat, in 1845, Melisiyenis showed its sensitivity to the well
being of the urban development of city. It criticized the expenditures made for the balls in clubs
and card games played there. It gave as an example the ball conducted a week previously in the
European Club and the one would take place in the Greek club the week after. In criticizing the

787
Smyrni, 21 September 1871, p. 4.
788
Amaltheia, 28 June 1857, n. 958, p. 3.
207

owners of such clubs and gambling activities and its negative results, like robbery, hopelessness
and suicide, the newspaper asked that wouldnt it be much better if this money was spent for the
philanthropic and educational institutions and to beautify and lighten the streets of our city?
789

The gas works and the lighting of zmir could be for the first time operated in zmir in February
1865,
790
which was twenty years after this criticism and demand of the newspaper Melisiyenis.
As these examples in the newspapers suggest before the foundation of municipality in zmir in
1868 and even before the Provincial Law of 1864, in the early years of the Tanzimat in 1840s,
the Greek newspapers were concerned with modernizatioonof their cities. Melisiyenis even went
further and asked for lighting of streets with gas twenty years before it came about.
Greek newspapers, which were aware of modern urban characteristics reflected not only
positive ideas about the development of urbanization, but also urged the maintenance of good
social order in zmir. The newspaper Smyrni criticized the article of K. iligiryan which was
published in the Armenian journal Mamul. According to the newspaper, it attempted to instigate
Armenians to disturb the good social relations between the Greek and Armenian communities of
Anatolia. Smyrni criticized his article as follows:

He (K. iligiryan) says Greek doctors in the Empire should be replaced by the Armenian ones. Such an
approach was both against the religious rules and this period in which the Sultan desired the co-existence of
different ethno-religious communities in good social relations and harmony in Anatolia.
791


It also emphasized that iligiryan and his group wanted by writing such articles to deteriorate
affection and ties between the two communities. since we wish these two communities to live
together in peaceful terms, we condemn this journal. Moreover, fortunately, the Armenian youth

789
Melisiyenis, 6 January 1845.
790
Zandi-Sayek, 2001, p. 101.
791
Smyrni, 23 November 1871, p.3.
208

named such articles in this journal as reactionary and blamed them for their approach.
792
This
example indicates that not only the local administration, but also the Greek newspapers of the
city desired the social tranquility and harmony in the multi-cultural city.
The newspapers of the period were also concerned with the social order of the city during
the celebrations of the feasts. For example, Melisiyenis announced in January 1845 that religious
feasts were celebrated in peace and order, since the criminals were cautious because of the
presence of the Ottoman soldiers.
793
When the ruler of zmir changed, Melisiyenis expressed its
wishes for the continuation of the tranquility and social order in the city under the new rulers:
The customs director Reit Efendi had become the new governor of zmir, and Hac Bey, who is
known by everyone in zmir, became Kahya Bey. The appointment of these two experienced
rulers is a hopeful event for the continuation of the calm and tranquil life in zmir.
794
The
celebration of the Greek Easter in loud fashion with the use of pistols, which led to injuries and
deaths, caused to disturb social order seriously in zmir in the 19
th
century. This habit of the
zmir Greeks was a subject of complaint even before the 1800s. A contemporary witness a
Swedish traveler, a natural scientist, wrote about such celebration of Greek Easter in zmir in
1749:

zmir Greeks were giving some amount of money (500 Para) to msellim of zmir to celebrate their Easter
freely. They freely celebrated their Easter by eating, dancing and even fighting in the streets...in the second
and third days of the Easter the voices of songs were heard in the streets from the houses of the Greeks. In
the Frank quarter Greeks danced and shot as a tradition. However, this year their metropolitan forbade the

792
Smyrni, 23 November 1871, p.3.
793
Melisiyenis, 6 January 1845.
794
Melisiyenis, 6 January 1845.
209

se of guns during the Easter celebrations, and told them that if they use guns, he would excommunicate
them so that they did not shoot this year.
795


zmir Greeks habit of shooting guns in the celebrations continued in the 1850s so much so that
the governor of zmir forbade the gunshots for security and good social order. The church and
other official authorities tried to implement this decision as well. Amaltheia in announcing this
ban stated that although shooting in the air and use of explosive materials were a habit of the
Greeks, the metropolitan of zmir, Anthimos, sent letters to all the churches in the city and asked
the Greeks to abandon this dangerous habit. The church elders had helped by hanging a similar
note on to all of the churches in zmir.
796
However, zmir Greeks did not give up this dangerous
habit. Even in the 1870s, the governor of zmir and Greek newspapers were struggling to explain
the harmful and detrimental consequences of their habits. In 1871, the governor of zmir went
further and published an advertisement in the Greek newspaper to announce the forbiddance of
the use of guns during the Easter celebrations. He stressed that those who would not obey this
rule would be punished.
797
The newspaper Smyrni supported the decision of the governor and
criticized this custom by stating that:

such a custom belongs to barbarians. Go and see the situation in the hospitals after the Easter period,
people not only became injured but also became handicapped because of this custom. The occurrence of
such events in a metropolis like zmir indicates uncivilized character. Last week it was religious feast of the
Muslims, who obeyed this prohibition and did not use any gun. As the Muslims obeyed the ban of our
administration and behaved respectfully, why can we not do this? We hope that the Christians of zmir

795
Hristos Sokratous Solomonidis, : , ,
[zmir Triology: zmir During the Awakening, The Easter of the unredeemed Greeks, Independent zmir]
(Athens: n.p, 1970) 57.
796
Amaltheia, 21 March 1852.
797
Smyrni, 1871.
210

would not give the opportunity to the people to think that we are more backward and barbarian than our
fellow Ottoman townsmen ( ).
798


The way which the newspaper emphasized the good attitude of the Muslims and showed them as
an example to warn the Greeks implies degradation of the Muslims. This indicates that the
Greeks come to see themselves in a higher position than Muslims in terms of culture and
civilization. In other words, the Greeks of zmir by this time did not consider themselves
subordinates to the Muslims who shared common religion with the ruling Ottoman dynasty. The
control of the center in zmir through local authorities continued in 1870, too. The authorities
were even more sensitive than they had been in the early 1840s about a possible instigation
which might originate from the Greek state. Irredentist policies of the Greek state manifested
itself in the Empire, especially during the crises of the Ottoman State, as in 1839-1840, 1854,
1878, which culminated with the 1897 Greco-Turkish War.
799
When the Greek king Otho was
replaced by Georgios I in 1862, Hellenization propaganda of the Greek state among the Ottoman
Greeks increased especially in the regions mostly populated by the Ottoman Greeks.
800
Although
King Otho absorbed the ideal of megali idea, his insufficient attempts and ineffective policies to
implement megali idea disappointed the Greek statesmen so that he was replaced by Georgios
I.
801
Therefore, the Ottoman center sought to take necessary precautions to prevent the spread of
the irredentist Greek ideals and negative ideas about the Ottoman Empire among the zmir
Greeks. For example, it forbade the circulation of a Greek newspaper, which came with an
Austrian ship, navigating from Greece in 1873.
802

As these examples indicate, governors of zmir struggled to provide a good social order
both in the periods of disasters and celebrations, and to rule the people with justice during the

798
Smyrni, 1871.
799
Clogg, 1982, pp. 197-198.
800
Augustinos, 1997, p. 332.
801
Ibid., pp. 331-332.
802
Smyrni, 17 July, 1873, n. 249, p. 3.
211

Tanzimat era. Moreover, the center increased its control mechanisms on the Greek educational,
social and cultural activities, for example, because of disturbances in stanbul, in the Great
School of the Nation (Megali tou Genous Scholi) in Kurueme, it forbade teaching by Greek
nationals anywere in the Empire in 1849.
803
In the following years, a similar prohibition was
again applied because of the disturbances in Bursa that the state temporarily forbade the coming
of Greek teachers from Greece to teach in the Empire.
804
However, this general state policy did
not lead to any widespread tension between local officials and zmir Greeks.
Greek newspapers played a crucial role not only in imposing urban values and sense of
belonging to the city, but also loyalty to the Ottoman local administration. During the short-lived
first constitutional period and later during the second one, the Ottoman non-Muslims were
promised political rights and representation in the Ottoman parliament. Notwithstanding the
consequences of these attempts, which did not accomplish their original intentions or expressed
aims, as an idea such political attempts gave Ottoman Greeks hope of having a more oficially
recognized political voice. However, in zmir, in the Tanzimat period, when political rights and
representation were not fully extended to the non-Muslims except for their representation in the
large and small provincial councils, we see zmir Greeks well entrenched in the social and
cultural fabric of zmir, not to mention their role in economic life. As one of the integral
components of the city, they interacted with other community members, including Muslims,
cared for urban development and characters and policies of the local rulers of the city, and called
local rulers and zmir as our ruler, our city or our administration. That is to say, in the
absence of modern political rights of parliamentary regimes or of the initial steps of nation-
building process of the CUP in the Empire, with the blend of pre-Tanzimat and Tanzimat

803
Clogg, 1982, p. 198.
804
Augustinos, 1987, p. 333.
212

regulations, Greeks of zmir had a voice and undeniable role in the socio-cultural structure of the
city in which they had good social relations with the Turks and other religious groups.
All the above mentioned public events, imperial celebrations, and struggles with urban
disasters such as disease and fires provide important indications of the nature of the ethno-
religious coexistence and communal interaction in zmir. However, not only these, but also
affects of the vital commercial life also help us to understand the nature of the social structure of
zmir which sheltered different ethno-religious communities in peace and order for long
centuries.


Commercial Life
The vital commercial life of zmir was another factor that led to the development of
different kind of social dynamics, which united all inhabitants of zmir in harmony regardless of
religion and ethnicity. Commercial relations united merchants in the Eastern Mediterranean, who
were characterized as Levantine by the Westerners. These traders and merchants of the East
were not defined by their original ethno-religious identities so that Levantine became a category
in itself. Levantine trade embraced Catholic and Orthodox Christians, Muslims and Jews in
zmir, as it did in all Near and Middle Eastern regions. In the Ottoman Empire, Levantines had a
peculiar advantageous status as being berat (deed grant)
805
holders in the Ottoman Empire.
Berat holders (beratl, Avrupa or hariciye tccarlar) could benefit from all the privileges of
taxation, traveling and adjudication of the foreign tradesmen.
806
In the 19
th
century, zmir
welcomed many beratl merchants and tradesmen who became one of the basic components of

805
Being berat holder provided them important commercial and fiscal privileges. Berats were distributed by the
European diplomatic missions. Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, (E.J. Brill, 1967).
806
They had travel permission easily, were exempted from most of the customs taxes and state taxes, which
provided them easy export, and their adjudication were held in the special courts in the capital not in the local state
courts. Musa adrc, II. Mahmut Dneminde Avrupa ve Hayriye Tccarlar, in Trkiyenin Sosyal ve Ekonomik
Tarihi, eds. Osman Okyar and Halil nalck, (Ankara: Meteksan, 1980) 239-241.
213

the urban life. Levantines of zmir, whatever their ethnicity and religion were, well entrenched
into the social- cultural and economic life of the city so much so that they forgot their country of
origins and became almost a mixture of a different race in zmir. All of them, whether English,
Italian, or French, levantinized in zmir, to the extent that it was very difficult to find out the
home country of a Levantine.
807
However, the Levantine identity had been subjected to the
changes in the 19
th
century as the European states influence in the Ottoman lands increased.
Having profited from this influence, they adapted a more European material culture in the first
half of the 19
th
century, and they became a defensive group in the second half of the 19
th
century
because of the growing anti-Catholic sentiments and pressure of consulates to have clear national
loyalties among their nominal fellow citizens in zmir.
808
A traveler, Charles Fellows, noted in
1838 in his accounts that the French merchants were very indifferent to the society they lived in
and the only thing they were interested in was their trade activities, capital and money in
zmir.
809

The Levantines in the East produced different styles of living, ideas, and thinking. The
way of life the Levantine people produced also affected the social structure of zmir. Western
attitudes penetrated into social-cultural life in zmir basically by the presence of the Levantines.
Among the non-Muslim communities, the Greek community was the first non-Muslim
community to absorb the Western attitudes and habits in zmir. The balls organized by both
Levantines and Greeks by their associations like the Smyrna Club, the Sporting Club, the Greek
Club, the Levantine Club (European Casino) and the Hunters Club. They became indicators of
the absorbed Western attitudes in urban relations among various ethno-religious groups in zmir.

807
Beyru, 2000, pp. 102-103. Rauf Beyru gives as an example professions and positions of the members of Van
Lennep family in zmir. Of the three members of this family, one worked in Dutch consulate, one in the Swedish
and Norway consulate, and the other studied theology in America and became American.
808
Oliver J. Schmitt, Levantiner, Lebenswelten und Identitten einer etnokonfessionellen Gruppe im osmanischen
Reich in langen 19. Jahrhundert [Levanitnes: Life Worlds and Identities of an Ethno-Denominatinal Group in the
Ottoman Empire during the Long 19th Century] (Sdosteuropische Arbeiten 122, Mnchen: r. Oldenbourg,
2005) 303-399.
809
Beyru, 2000, p.125, FN. 305.
214

The famous Western stores in Europe, like Au Bon Marche, Orozdi-back, The Anglo-Eastern
Cooperative Co., and Samaritain, and some other European stores, like Au Printempts, Camelia,
Comptoir, Femina, Stein and Nalpas, existed on Frank Street in zmir.
810
Moreover, European
theatre plays were popular in zmir in the middle of the 19th century. Les Premiers Amours
(1838), La Donna Vindicative, Finta Malata, Les Trois Espigles (1841), Pass Minuit (1850),
La Sconde Anne, Indiana and Charlemagne (1850) were some examples of the French and
Italian theatre plays in zmir.
811
Apart from the theatre buildings, short comedy plays also took
place in small coffeehouses in the 1860s and 1870s. These coffeehouses generally named
themselves as caf-chantants or caf-concert and they were constructed into the sea on four wood
piles as shed-like buildings in the place called Marina or British port.
812
In addition to Frank
Street and Street of Roses (Rue de Roses), after the construction of the new quay, the Bella Vista
corner adjoined to the shore became one of the vital places at the seashore where the local upper
class and foreigners engaged together in social and cultural activities in the 1880s. In Bella Vista
many coffeehouses existed with their large terraces extended towards sea, sold European
newspapers, and some evenings comedies and musical performances also took place.
813
This
Western atmosphere in the urban center of zmir also affected communal relations. Frank Street,
Street of Roses, and Bella Vista in the 1880s were the areas where the Levantine, Ottoman non-
Muslim and Muslims of the various classes gathered together. While they were carrying on
commerce and sharing common area for shopping and socializing, people of zmir learned to
gather, to share the urban area and its facilities together. As a result, they not only co-existed and
lived side by side, but also communicated, interacted, and negotiated in social life.

810
Beyru, 2000, p. 212.
811
Ibid., p. 237.
812
Ibid., p. 241.
813
Zandi-Sayek, 2001a, pp. 50-51.
215

Moreover, the role of the remarkable demographic growth with the increased number of
the foreigners in the economic development and social-cultural life of the city in the second half
of the 19th century should not be ignored. Demographic increase not only played a crucial role in
the transformation of zmir into the urban center of western Anatolia, but also can be regarded as
an important factor for the vital economic activity.
All these dynamics, demographic increase, long-lasting property relations among
different ethno-religious communities of the city, common imperial or public celebrations,
conciliatory attitude of the local authorities to provide social cohesion and integration, vital
commercial life, which brought economic development, and the long-lasting presence of
Levantines who introduced Western habits and life style led the people of zmir to perceive each
other as natural residents of zmir on equal terms regardless of ethnic and religious affiliation. In
other words, social realignments occurred among communities of zmir that brought about
social-cultural fusion and interwoven economic relations in the city. All these provided social
cohesion in the city until the nation-building process began to have an impact after 1908.
Furthermore, I also believe that the Muslim perception of the non-Muslims also played a
crucial role for the social tranquility and communal interaction in zmir. I do not ignore the
occurrence of a few aggressive events towards the Greeks of zmir in 1770, 1797 and in the first
years of the Greek revolt. However, the important point was that such aggressive attitudes of
some local powers and a few fanatic groups did not spread among the general Muslim Turkish
population of city. This might be related to the Muslims understanding of Islam; if they had
connections with some Sufi orders, their non-orthodox Sunni way might led to formation of a
different kind of relationship with the non-Muslim Ottomans. If so, this might explain their
enthusiastic approach towards their non-Muslim fellows in zmir. We know that there was a
mevlevihane in Manisa, which was founded in 1369 before the Ottoman rule began in the
216

region.
814
In the narration of Evliya elebi, we learn that many lodges existed and mevlevi order
was very widespread in Manisa. The mevlevi tradition in Manisa continued till 1925 when the
lodges were closed down in 1925.
815
Manisa Mevlevi Lodge had close ties with the central
lodge, Konya Mevlevi Lodge, that the elebi of the Konya Mevlevi Lodge was appointed from
Manisa Mevlevi lodge.
816
This indicates that the Mevlevi lodge of Manisa was highly influential
in the region. In this context, the question comes to my mind is that whether it affected zmir and
its hinterland as well or not? Was it possible after the abolition of the Bektashi order in 1826 that
Mevlevi lodges became more influential in western Anatolia? Or, if we remember the earlier
years, at the beginning of the 15
th
century, before the annexation of zmir into the Ottoman
Empire in 1427, there were rebellious Sufi mystics (dervi) in and around Aydn and Manisa.
When the Ottoman domination began to be influential in the western Anatolia, they generated
serious revolts against the centralization policies of the Ottoman Empire in 1415 in the name of
eyh Bedreddin: Brklce Mustafa initiated a revolt in Karaburun, and it was suppressed by the
Ottomans.
817
After Brklce, in Aydn region Torlak Kemal and his 3000 dervi followers
revolted, and this was also suppressed. Another rebel, Ayglolu, revolted with his followers
around Ktahya and Manisa, the Ottomans quashed this revolt, too.
818
The common point of
these revolts was that their leaders, who belonged to Kalenderi order, had relations with eyh

814
The oldest information about this mevlevihane was written by Evliya elebi. By reading from the front door of
the mevlevihane, which do not exist today, he noted that Manisa Mevlevihanesi was builded by shak Bey, son of
lyas Bey in 1369. shak Bey, who was the Bey of Manisa between 1366 and 1388, was the grandchild of Saruhan
Bey. Nuran Tezcan, Manisa Mevlevihanesi, Osmanl Aratrmalar, v. 14, 1994, pp. 186-187;
815
Ibid., pp. 190, 193.
816
The person, who will be elebi in Konya lodge, was appointed as eyh to Manisa lodge as a rule. Ibid., p. 191.
817
Ahmet Yaar Ocak, Osmanl Toplumunda Zndklar ve Mlhidler, 15.-17. yzyllar, [Zindiqs and Atheists in the
Ottoman Society] (stanbul: Tarih Vakf Yurt Yaynlar, 3rd ed., 2003; 1st. ed., 1998) 15, 162-163. According to
Byzantium historian Dukas, Brklce revolted with the claim of similarity between Islam and Christianity: He made
propaganda by arguing that both religions were equal and one can not subordinate of other. Except for women,
everything could be shared in equal terms by the followers of both religions. Ottoman sources while mentioning his
revolt, did not talk about such propaganda. Brklce Mustafas revolt with around 6000 and 10.000 people was
suppressed very harshly by the Ottoman powers around Manisa. Ibid., p. 163.
818
Ibid., 164. There was no agreement among the sources about whether Brklce Mustafa, Torlak Kemal and
Ayglolu were followers of eyh Bedreddin or not, and about whether eyh Bedreddin organized these rebels or
not. According to the Ottoman sources, Brklce Mustafa and Torlak Kemal were were two caliphs of eyh
Bedreddin. Ibid., 162
217

Bedreddin. He was a Sufi mystic (mutasavvf) and scholar who was accused of being a pantheist
by the Ottoman ulema. It is openly seen in his famous work Varidat that he was closely
associated with the philosophy of the Hurifi order and was a pantheist mutasavvf.
819
As a
mutasavvf he conducted his duties as a eyh in western Anatolia where the Hurifi order was
widespread.
820
In sum, the presence and activities of these mystics and of the widespread Hurifi
lodge in western Anatolia in the early 15
th
century might give us a clue about Muslims approach
to Islam in this region. Hence, the question of whether Mevlevi, Hurifi and Kalenderi orders in
western Anatolia had roots in zmir or not, should be the subject of another study.


Breakdown of Order
In 1870s and 1880s, zmir Greeks were still celebrating Easter in the same loud -and
dangerous- manner in the streets, by carrying icons and singing, and discharging guns, which had
repeatedly been forbidden in the earlier decades. We learn from the newspapers of the time in the
years 1880, 1881 and 1894 that the same complaints and disturbance of social order in the city
continued to exist. The provincial governor of zmir, Hasan Fehmi Pasha forbade the usage of
pistols in 1894.
821
Noting vital and loud celebrations of the Greek Easter, a traveler defined the
festivity as he witnessed semi-religious and semi-national Greek celebrations in the Easter in

819
eyh Bedreddins religious approach was affected by, on the one hand, his father and grandfather, an expert in
fkh; on the other hand, by his mother, who was originally Orthodox Christian, later converted to Islam. Because of
his pantheist ideas he was notified as zndk and mlhid by the Ottoman ulema, and declared as rebel by the state
since he revolted against the centralized Ottoman political power, which was represented by Mehmed I. During the
interregnum period, he supported Musa elebi, who favored maintenance of the local powers and Christian feudal
lords, unlike elebi Mehmed I, for the Ottoman throne. He uprised openly against the authority of the Ottoman state
in 1416 and was executed. He was specialist in fkh of Islam, and pursued his religious education in various
Mevlevi clergies in Bursa and Konya, but he inclined towards pantheist tasavvuf philosophy after he met with eyh
Hseyin Ahlati. Ibid., pp. 143, 145-148, 154, 158-159, 169, 174, 178-179.
820
Ibid., 159.
821
Beyru, 2000, 334, FN.1104, 1105, 1106. Quoted from Stamboul Gazetesi, 6 May 1880 Hizmet Gazetesi 12
August 1881 and Hizmet Gazetesi 28 April 1894.
218

zmir.
822
He also mentioned that women pinned blue flowers to their hair, representing the
Greek state, and an orchestra played the national anthem of Greece at midnight at Agia Photini
church. Another traveller, Launay, also noted festive celebrations of the Greek Easter in 1887.
823

He also mentioned his bewilderment about the Greeks singing of the national anthem of the
Greek state freely and the indifference attitude of the Turkish gendarmes.
824
These indicate that
the social balance which the local authorities maintained in zmir during the Tanzimat was still
working in the 1880s.
Expanding Western capitalism, especially after 1870s with the beginning of Hamidian
period, had a negative impact on the natural social fabric of the multi-cultural cities of the
Empire. In other words, after the 1870s, the commercial and political conditions of the Empire
had begun to be transformed into a phase that affected the non-Muslims situation negatively.
Reat Kasaba argued that despite the negative aspects of the Ottoman Empire, economic
integration of western Anatolia to the growing capitalist economy would provide empire's
integration into the world economy. This could not be achieved, since the state began to exclude
non-Muslims after the 1870s, especially Greeks, from their economic and social positions, who
had them for over a century.
825
The peripheral networks of western Anatolia, which were
developed basically by the Greeks in the early 19
th
century, were taken over by the Ottoman
bureaucracy. From the 1870s on, Ottoman bureaucracy had begun to be in cooperation with the
supranational finance capital, which led to the gradual economic and subsequently political
isolation of the non-Muslims in the social matrixes of the Empire after the 1870s.
826
Therefore,
according to this argument, when the Ottoman bureaucracy began to dominate the commercial

822
Quoted from Sur les Routes dAsie, Gaston Deschamps, (Paris: Chez Furne et Cie, Libraries de la Socit des
Gens de Letters, Rue de Nzieres, 5, 1894), 152-153 in Beyru, 2000, 149, FN. 405.
823
Solomonidis, 1970, p. 57.
824
Ibid., p. 58.
825
Reat Kasaba, The Ottoman Empire and The World Economy, The Nineteenth Century, (New York: State
University of New York, 1988a) 114-115.
826
Ibid.
219

networks in the 1870s in western Anatolia, the gradual isolation of the non-Muslims caused the
repression of further expansion of social space, within which the influence of the non-Muslims
were rooted.
827
This social space could possibly form the initial development of civil society in
the disintegrating Ottoman Empire, if the non-Muslim communities, especially Greeks, were not
isolated.
828
I agree that Muslim dominance was encouraged by the state all over the Empire
through various mechanisms especially after 1876.
829
Moreover, the interference of the Public
Debt Administration (PDA) in the entrenchment of finance capital and agriculture in Anatolia
disturbed the activities of the local merchants and intermediaries.
830
However, I think this
isolation process which began in the 1880s did not immediately cause economic or social
isolation of the Ottoman Greeks in urban zmir and its surrounding environs. I agree that this
isolation process began effectively during the rule of the CUP in 1908 and reached its peak when
the military and Turkish wing of the CUP monopolized political power in 1912 and attempted to
replace non-Muslim business with the Muslim ones in the name of the formation of the national
bourgeoisie.
831
Moreover, the impact of non-Muslims on the Ottoman economy was openly
expressed by the Turkish diplomatic group headed by smet nn during Lausanne negotiations
in 1922. In spite of the negative interference of the PDA and the repressive Young Turk policies
in western Anatolia, zmir Greeks struggled against these policies and managed to maintain their
workshops and business in urban zmir until they had to leave in 1922-23 according to forced
exchange agreement resulting from the Lausanne treaty.

827
Ibid., p. 115.
828
Ibid.
829
For the increasing impact of the religion as an official ideology and pressure of the state on the population see
Serim Deringil, The Well Protected Domains, Ideology and the Legitimate of Power in the Ottoman Empire 1876-
1909, (London, New York: I.B. Taurus, 1998).
830
Kasaba, 1993, pp. 407-408.
831
Ibid., p. 407.
220
Conclusion
The incorporation of zmir and its hinterland into the world economy during the 19
th

century turned the city into an economic center in the eastern Mediterranean. The Greek
community of zmir had played a crucial role in the process of incorporation since the 18
th

century. When the Greek revolt broke out, it elicited a short-lived economic stagnation in the
economy of zmir in the 1820s. The process of incorporation and economic growth of the city
continued despite this negative development. These economic and political developments
affected the balance of power and internal affairs of the Greek community of zmir. The new
emerging class of Ottoman Greek merchants and tradesmen came into conflict in 1810s with
eminent Ottoman Greek merchants and the church which ruled the community. This conflict
stirred up a crisis between these two groups in 1819, just on the eve of the Greek revolt. Then
they had to struggle against the Ottoman Empire during the Greek revolt for their survival and
the economic well-being in the city. That is to say, Ottoman Greek subjects had to cope with two
simultaneously occurring problems: conflict and competition within their community, and the
repressive regime of Mahmud II, which initially treated Ottoman Greek subjects very harshly
without differentiating rebels from those who remained loyal in the first years of the Greek
revolt. Therefore, fearing the abuses of local powers and the oppressive hand of the state, a
considerable number of Ottoman Greeks fled from zmir to the Aegean islands in 1821. That
their displacement also affected their lives negatively is evident in their return in 1823 and their
struggle to revive the economy again when state policies were moderated in non-rebellious
regions. There is no evidence that mistreatment of the Ottoman Greeks by some local powers and
general unrest in society negatively affected relations between the Greeks and Turks of zmir
during the Greek revolt. The aggressive actions of the Janissaries and protests of small groups of
fanatic Turks did not instigate Muslims against their Ottoman Greek fellows. Hence, zmirs
society overcame this negative social and economic situation in 1820s.
221

In Ottoman historiography, the social impact of the Tanzimat is generally portrayed as
the increasing unhappiness of the Muslim population which caused intercommunal problems.
Depending on this general idea, I assumed that the growing economic wealth of non-Muslims
negatively affected the communal relations in zmir too. The Greek community of zmir was the
most active community among the other Ottoman non-Muslim in the vital economic life of the
city communities. Therefore, I especially concentrated on seeking evidence for the conflict
between the Greek and Turkish community of zmir to understand if the origins of the two
contradicting nations could be traced back to the 1820s. I also took into account the Muslim
so-called negative response to the enactment of equality for non-Muslims, that is their opposition
to being treated as equal with the secondary subjects (reaya) of the Empire. Neither Ottoman-
Turkish archival evidence nor the Greek newspapers of the time evinced such a reaction of the
Turkish community of zmir because of the economic development of the Ottoman Greeks and
equality principle of the Tanzimat. Rather, the economic expansion of the Ottoman Greek
merchants and tradesmen of zmir led to the emergence of a Greek middle class bourgeoisie in
the 1840s which challenged the eminent Ottoman Greek bourgeoisie and Greek Orthodox
Church. Although I aimed to understand the role of the Muslims in the economic activity of the
city and their economic relations with this Greek middle class bourgeoisie, the available archival
data did not serve this aim. As far as the relations between the Ottoman Empire and the Greek
community of zmir during the Tanzimat period is considered, they mostly interacted in
economic terms. The Ottoman Greeks right of obtaining Greek nationality and protection of
other European states created problems between the state and zmir Greeks. While Ottoman
Greeks wanted to take advantage of having foreign protection or double citizenship Greek
national and Ottoman subject the Ottoman Empire struggled to protect its interests.
Nevertheless, this did not prevent zmir Greeks from flourishing economically in zmir and the
larger world.
222

Regarding the Tanzimat principles of equality across sectarian frontiers, as the court
registers and examples of the correspondence between central authority and local governors of
zmir suggest, local authorities observed Tanzimat principles of equality. However, the impact of
the centralizing reforms were felt in zmir too. zmir Greeks came under more scrutiny of the
state during the Tanzimat period. Implementing the equality principle, local authorities
sometimes benefited from applying pre-Tanzimat legal principles. The Ottoman-Turkish data
indicated the persistence of the pre-Tanzimat principles along with the Tanzimat principles in
zmir. They were used both for the benefit of the non-Muslims, for controlling them, and for
maintaining social order and cohesion in the multi-ethno-religious society. However, this might
raise the question of whether the practice originated in the need to demonstrate continuity with
the pre-Tanzimat to placate more traditionalist and conservative groups in the city. It is known
that Mahmud Nedim Pasha, a statesman opposed to the Tanzimat reforms, served in zmir for 18
months between September 1856 and March 1857.
832
As a result of my inquiry into the Ottoman-
Turkish archival material and Greek newspapers of the time in zmir, I did not find any evidence
of the possible impact of his anti-reformist rule in zmir. Moreover, in general, the sources of this
study did not shed light on the struggles between supporters and opponents of the reforms, and
their impact in the society of zmir. Surely, this does not mean that anti-reformists were absent in
zmir. However, even if they existed and attempted to disrupt the implementation of the reform
regulations, they did not become influential. Or, if some conservative groups existed in public
and were annoyed by the reform regulations, they remained silent within the cosmopolitan
commercial society of the city. People of zmir were accumstomed to conducting their economic
activities in the multi-ethno-religious environment of the city for almost two and a half centuries.
Moreover, the impact of the Levantine culture on citys social-cultural activities became more

832
Butrus Abu Manneh, The Sultan and the Bureaucracy: The Anti-Tanzimat Concepts of Grand Vizier Mahmud
Nedim Pasha, IJMES, n. 22, 1990, p. 259.
223

prominent during the Tanzimat period. We know next to nothing about the Muslim organizations
in the city, which is a question requires further research. Regarding the relationship between the
Greek state and the Greek community of zmir, there was no homogeneity within the Greek
community of zmir in its approach to the new Greek state. Although there was a group of zmir
Greeks who asked for settlement and representation right in the newly forming Greek parliament
in 1827, no evidence indicates that the ideas of this group became widespread among the
Ottoman Greeks. When the Greeks began to immigrate from the Greek Kingdom into zmir
during the Tanzimat, they wanted to be involved in community activities including education
facilities for both gaining political power within the community and alerting Ottoman Greeks to
the Greek consciousness. Moreover, when the Greek state intensified its propaganda to effectuate
megali idea in the 1860s in the Ottoman Empire, the Greeks of Greece in zmir intensified their
activities to impose Greek identity on the Ottoman Greeks. Education, by nature, was their
foremost tool to impose Greek consciousness. However, this did not cause zmir Greeks to lose
their political loyalty to the Ottoman Empire. Greek newspapers of the time show that they
developed a double political loyalty: On the one hand, they celebrated the foundation date of the
Greek state or name days of the Greek kings; on the other hand, they attended to the Ottoman
municipal and imperial celebrations. Moreover, zmir Greeks developed a strong sense of
belonging to the city. The local authorities attempts to provide or maintain their political loyalty
to the Ottoman Empire also played a role in the development of the sense of belonging to the
city.
In contrast to the conventional idea, modernizing state regulations could not establish a
strict central control although in theory such regulations were an attempt to do so during the
Tanzimat, but unintentionally they constructed a decentralized political order, with the blend of
Islamic, imperial and customary (rfi) laws. Along with Westernization reforms, this system
manifested itself in the urban organization and social structure of the big cities of the Empire,
224

basically in Istanbul and zmir, and to some extent in Adana, Bursa, and Trabzon.
833
Tanzimat
reforms could not be effectively applied in the rest of the Empire. Hence, it did not lead to an
economic and socio-cultural development in all parts of the Empire. As far as urban zmir is
concerned, I believe that it was the model for the Tanzimat reforms. zmir with its strong
economy, harmonious multi-ethno-religious society, and good-integration into the center,
constituted a suitable example for the modernizing project of the Ottoman Empire. However,
zmir did not come to this point solely as a result of the Tanzimat regulations in the 19
th
century.
It was the local character and internal dynamics that the city had generated since the 17
th
century
which underwrote the economic development. This, in turn, formed a cosmopolitan society
whose ethno-religious communities interacted and formed social cohesion. Hence, the people of
zmir with different ethno-religious backgrounds acquired an ability to absorb unexpected and
unfavorable social events within their society. For example, the emergence of a separate Greek
identity within the Greek community of zmir and their growing economic power at the expense
of Muslims might affect Muslims social cooperation with them. However, the important point is
that such negative circumstances did not diffuse through the society and create aggressive
hostility to intercommunal relations. Surely, the Tanzimat reforms accelerated the urban
transformation of zmir. However, in earlier centuries the city had begun to form its local
character, which became crystallized during the centralizing reforms of the Tanzimat. That is to
say, the localization of zmir did not occur independently of the Ottoman center.
834
It is my
contention that it was this local crystallization that prevented the isolation of the non-Muslims
from economic and social-cultural activity of the city throughout the 19
th
century, that is, until
1908. The CUP attempted to break this multi-ethno-religious locality and replace it with a

833
Sia Anagnostopoulou, , 19

-1919.
[Asia Minor, 19th c.- 1919. The Greekorthodox Communities. From Millet-i Rum to the Greek
Nation] (Athens: Ellinika Grammata, 1998) 106.
834
Jens Hanssen, Practices of Integration Center-Periphery- Relations in the Ottoman Empire in The Empire in
the City, Arab Provincial Capitals in the Late Ottoman Empire, eds. Jens Hannsen, Philipp Thomas, and Stefan
Weber (Beirut: Ergon Verlag Wrzburg in Kommission, 2002) 52.
225

homogeneous locality, which succeeded. The Ottoman Empire began to formulate policies to
isolate non-Muslims from the economic sectors during the reign of Abdlhamid II. However,
zmir Greeks could resist such discouraging policies and continued to exist as the most important
agents of zmir society in economic and socio-cultural life, and also continuously struggled for
their political rights as one of the natural elements of the city. The Greeks and Turks long-
standing property relations and their transactions along with their cooperation in daily life such
as criminal activites or mutual participation in their festivities in zmir indicate their social and
cultural interaction in the unified urban organization of the city. Moreover, the intricate local
relations mingled people of different ethno-religious backgrounds during the process of
economic expansion of zmir. Furthermore, the level of economic expansion zmir achieved
required close interaction of people of zmir with different ethno-religious affiliations.
835

Therefore, it seems meaningles to see classify zmir as Turkish zmir versus Gavur zmir.
Instead of approaching the history of the 19
th
century Ottoman Empire monolothically as a
disintegration process, the 19
th
century Ottoman reforms can be seen as an integration endeavour.
It was not only the struggle of the Ottoman Empire to integrate itself to the West, but also to
meld and integrate its multi-ethno-religious society in order to accommodate the social changes
of the 19th century.
As for the case of zmir, the question we have to ask is how was it possible that such
enduring economic and social-cultural communal relations that cut across the confessional lines
were broken up? Despite the negative effects of the 1897 Greek-Ottoman war and the influence
of the propaganda of the Greek Kingdom to arouse ethnic consciousness, zmir could still
maintain its social cohesion and zmir Greeks continued to exist as native residents of zmir
along with Turks and other non-Muslim communities until 1908. At the beginning of this study I

835
Reat Kasaba, zmir 1922: A Port City Unravels, in Culture and Modernity from Meditarrenean and to Indian
Ocean, eds. Leila Tarazi Fawaz, Christopher Alan Bayly, (New York: Colombia University Press, 2002) 211, 216.
226

thought that the roots of the ethnic tensions of the later 19
th
and early 20
th
centuries had to be
searched for and located in the Tanzimat period. I came to understand that the ethnic tensions did
not originate in the Tanzimat period, as happened in Arab provinces and the Balkan region of the
Empire, but in the period when modern nation-state formation actually began to have an impact
at the turn of the century. The Ottoman Empire was a modernizing absolutist state in the years
1821 to 1864. However, it attempted to pave its own way to modernity by tackling the external
and internal problems of the 19
th
century through forming a sense of Ottomanism. The
Ottomanism project, along with the principle of equality among all people of the Empire, was
not affected by Western notions of ethnicity, nationalism, and racism. It was the Hamidian rule,
and, especially, the Committee of Union and Progress regime that was affected by these notions.
Pan-Islamist policies of Abdlhamid II, which provided the unity of Muslims against Western
modern nation states at the expense of the non-Muslims of the Empire, were the first seeds of the
breakdown of the multi-ethno-religious cohesion in zmir and western Anatolia. Later, the
measures of the CUP to form a [Turkish] national economy contributed to the deterioration of
the social fabric of zmir and its hinterland.
As a tradition, the metropolitan of the Greek community of zmir used to send baskets of
Easter eggs to the local authorities. This continued until 1914, when the Turkish officers looted
the Greek places in the villages and districts along the Aegean coastline and relocated them.
Therefore, the ecumenical patriarchate announced that the Easter eggs for that year would not be
sent to the local officials as in the earlier years, and that Easter would not be celebrated in a
festive manner, rather, they would be mourning because of recent events.
836
The CUP, in order to
form a national bourgeoisie, afforded opportunities for the Muslims to increase capital and exiled

836
Hristos Sokratous Solomonidis, : , ,
[zmir Triology: zmir During the Awakening, The Easter of the unredeemed Greeks, Independent zmir]
(Athens, n.p, 1970) 58-60.
227

130,000-140,000 Greeks along the western coastline by force.
837
Until 1910 communal relations
remained unaffected by either the activities of the Greek nationals in Izmir or by Hamidian Pan-
Islamic ideology. The political balance of the city as well as the isolation of the zmir Greeks in
economic and social terms began when the CUP monopolized political power. As a result, during
the process of the establishment of the Muslim Turkish national bourgeoisie in western Anatolia,
various groups from the Greek and Turkish communities came into serious conflict,
838
which
eroded centuries of social cohesion of the multi-ethno religious society in zmir. The multi
ethno-religious society of zmir resisted many catastrophic events from epidemics to abuses of
local powers and kept its social balance through its consolidated locality throughout the 19
th

century, but it could not in the end resist nationalism. The clash of two nationalisms, the Turkish
and Greek, made zmir and western Anatolia experience an unprecedented ethnic conflict.
After 1866, when the period of this study ended, another historical period started in
zmir: firstly, the city itself became a province in 1866, its municipality was founded in 1868,
and secondly, the increasing influence of Public Debt Administration led to marginalization and
later isolation of the local bourgeoisie class mainly Greeks in western Anatolia. The economic
change of the 1870s constituted a base for the national economy policies of Young Turk rule.
These developments affected the process of social historical change in the region in the 1910s.
Plenty of material in the Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieves for the period after 1866 makes
available a future study of zmir in the Hamidian period. When the municipality and provincial
administrative organization was established in zmir, the non-Muslims actively got involved in
the administration of the city. For instance, it would be very interesting to see if injustices
occurred against non-Muslim municipality and provincial council members, as it happened in

837
Eric Zrcher, Turkey: A Modern History, (London, New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd Publishers, 1993) 130;
Mechtidis, n.d., pp. 207-211.
838
For the breakdown of order in zmir during the CUP rule see Vangelis C. Kechriotis, The Greeks of zmir at the
end of the Empire, A non-Muslim Ottoman Community between Autonomy and Patriotism unpublished dissertation
(University of Leiden, 2005) chapter 5 & 6.
228

Syrian provinces, and how such conflicts worked out in the local administration. The study of
zmir between 1866 and 1908 still needs research attention.
Throughout this study, I realized that it is possible to make a comparative study in the
future about the urban transformation of zmir, Beirut and Salonica in the Hamidian period, but
excluding social and communal relations and interaction. Issues of communal relations and
interaction seem to be problematic in these three cases for comparison.
In the case of Syrian provinces there were the rule of Mehmed Ali Pasha and civil war,
and sectarian violence that make a difference in the urban history of the region. As far as
Salonica is concerned, comparison of Salonica and zmir might be possible, but the huge
convert (dnme) population of Salonica seems to be a problem. Shall we accept them as
Muslims or how we are going to determine who was who in the city? Therefore, avoiding
concentrating on communal relations, it might be meaningful to make a comparative study about
the urban transformation of zmir and Beirut or zmir and Salonica, or zmir, Beirut and
Salonica, how they commenced the 20
th
century and how the two were separated from the
national borders and the one remained within.

229
Selected Bibliography
Primary Sources
zmir eriyye Sicilleri, (1845-1865), National Library, Ankara, Turkey.
Ayniyat Defterleri, Rum Fesad'na Dair, 7.9.1823-31.1.1824, Ayniyat Defterleri, n. 1713
Meclis-i Valadan, Ayniyat Defterleri, 1841-1848, Babakanlk Osmanl Arivi [(BOA), Prime
Ministry Ottoman Archieves, stanbul, Turkey].
Bab- Ali Evrak Odas, Sadaret Evrak Mektubi Kalemi (A.MKT), 1844-1850, BOA, (Prime
Ministry Ottoman Archieves), stanbul, Turkey.
Bab- Ali Evrak Odas, Sadaret Evrak (A.DVN), 1844-1850. BOA (Prime Ministry Ottoman
Archieves), stanbul, Turkey.
Cevdet Adliye, 1845.BOA, (Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieves, Istanbul, Turkey).
zmir Temettat Defterleri, [zmir Temett Notebook], linoz Cematainin Emlak ve Gelir
Defteri, (TMT) 2104, 1256, (1840).
Nme-i Hmyn Defteri, 4/1
Hatt- Hmyn , nr.7616.


Newspapers
Amaltheia
Melisiyenis
Smyrni




230

Embassy and Consular Archives, Public Record Office of Britain (PRO),
PRO 78/136, 1823 & PRO 78/135
PRO 78/532, 1843 & PRO 78/522, 1843


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251
Glossary of Terms:
Ayan: Land notables
Adet-i belde: Local custom
Babozuk: Unruly warriers
Berat: Patent, title of privilege, deed grant
Buyruldu: Orders
Byk Meclis: Large Provincial Council, also known as Provincial Council.
Cihad: Holy war, spiritual struggle
Cizye: Poll tax (head tax)
ukadar: Robe bearer to a Vezir, footman
Darbhane-i Amire: The Imperial Mint
Dirlik: Revenue granted as a living
Gaza: Military campaign on behalf of Islam
lam- eri: Written judgment of the court
rade-yi Seniyye: Imperial rescript
Kaime: The order (buyruldu) which is written on a long paper.
Kaymakam: District-chief
Kocaba: Administrative leader of the non-Muslim communities.
Mazbata: Official document given by the large provincial council.
Meclis-i Vala-y Ahkam- Adliye, (also known as Meclis-i Vala): Supreme Council of Judicial
Ordinances.
Molla: mollah, a high ranking teacher of theology.
Muhassl: collector of funds; salaried tax collectors of the Tanzimat period.
Naib: Deputy of kad.
Sadaret: Office of grand vizier
252

Sened-i ttifak: Document of Agreement
Temett: income tax, one of the financial regulations of the Tanzimat.
Temettat Defterleri: Temett Notebooks
Ulema: Religious clergy
Vali: Governor of province
Voyvoda: Governmental officer responsible of collecting has and treasury revenues in the
districts.
253

ZMR
. MANSA
. eme
. Foa
. Bornova
. Karyaka
. Aliaa
. Urla
. Mitillini
. Ayvalk
. Samos
. Chios
. Ske
. Kuadas
. AYDIN
. Nazilli
. Torbal
. demi
EGE DENZ
. Salihli
. Kasaba
K. Menderes
B. Menderes
Gediz
. ili
. Pnarba
. Buca
. irince
. Karaburun
. Alaat
. Kokluca
50 Km.
100 Km.
Appendix-1 Map of zmir and Surrounding Region
254

Appendix-2 Pictures


Picture-01 Turkish neighborhoods, ABIGEM Digital Archive.



255

Picture-02 Greek districts ABIGEM Digital Archive.



Picture-03 Armenian neighborhoods, ABIGEM Digital Archive.



Picture-04 Caravan road, ABIGEM Digital Archive
256




Picture-05 Hagia Fotini, ABIGEM Digital Archive


257

Picture-06 Agios Georgios, ABIGEM Digital Archive.


Picture-07 Frank quarter ABIGEM Digital Archive

258


Picture-08 Kadifekale, ABIGEM Digital


Picture-09 Sporting Clup, ABIGEM Digital Archive



259

Appendix-3 Ottoman Archive Documents









Plate-1 BOA, A.MKT12/67, 1260.5.5,(1844)

260








Plate-2 BOA, A.MKT 96/37A, 1263.10.15.(1846)





261




Plate-3 BOA, A.MKT 96/37 B, 1263.10.15.(1846)










262




Plate-4 BOA, A.MKT 103/40
























263


Plate-5 BOA.AYNT. No: 371, 1841, p. 8,
264










Plate-6 BOA.AYNT. 376, 1842, p. 26
























265






Plate-7 BOA.AYNT no.370, 1841 p,10





















266




Plate-8 BOA.AYNT.no:370. 1841, p. 18